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HomeCricketIPL 2nd Match Preview: KXIP and DD look to begin improved seasons

IPL 2nd Match Preview: KXIP and DD look to begin improved seasons

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Last Updated on 7 years by Charbel Coorey

What an unbelievable start to IPL 2018. The opener lived up to its billing, and showed that both Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings have what it takes to be relevant at the business of the tournament.

So what does the second match hold? Ahead of this tournament, the wide consensus (and correctly so) was that IPL 2018 would be very closely fought, and the battle between Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils might give us a second thriller in as many matches.

Ravichandran Ashwin, captain for the first time ever in any T20 match, is looking to reinvent the wheel. Captaining a side with excellent batting power, and with Aaron Finch to return during the tournament, there is plenty of optimism around about KXIP’s chances in IPL 2018. With Ashwin seemingly unperturbed about moving into captaincy, he seems to be an excellent leadership choice. Ashwin has the opportunity to put his stamp on things, in terms of implementing his strategies on working batsmen out, and how their batting line up could be best utilised. Also, offspin? Too mainstream for Ashwin, who is looking to add to his armour with legspin in this tournament.

Gautam Gambhir is back to where it all began for him in 2008. As captain of his Delhi Daredevils side, he’ll also be optimistic about his team’s chances, despite DD never reaching an IPL final. DD possess key players with excellent strike rates both in the powerplay and overs following the opening six overs,even without Glenn Maxwell for the first game, coupled with a bowling attack that has enough variety and quality to trouble a strong KXIP batting line up. Which way will it go in Chandigarh?

Gautam Gambhir is key to DD’s chances this year.

Key to a Kings XI Punjab win

Can KXIP post a mammoth total?
Even without Aaron Finch, they possess a dangerous batting line up. In the expected XI, their top six of Chris Gayle (SR 148.98), KL Rahul (129.81), Karun Nair (130.24), Yuvraj Singh (129.83), David Miller (138.68) and Marcus Stoinis (118.68) all possess strong strike rates in T20 cricket, with their lowest, 118.68 from Marcus Stoinis, not fully representative of the true damage he can cause.
If batting first, KXIP have the potential to take the pressure off the bowling up, which also contains quality, with left and right arm spin, as well as the variety of Andrew Tye, a very successful T20 bowler to date. He is key, as KXIP’s death bowling last season was poor, with an economy rate of nearly 10.40. If batting second, KXIP can back themselves to chase any total, such is the danger their line up presents.
Be sure to catch my preview of KKR vs RCB!

Key to a Delhi Daredevils win

It’s easy to say “bat first and post a mammoth total to put pressure on KXIP’s batting line up.”
However, DD’s bowlers need to have a good outing, to keep the strong KXIP line up as quiet as possible. That’s not to say that their batting line up isn’t dangerous either – Colin Munro is the only man with three T20I hundreds, Jason Roy has been key to England’s limited overs revival, Rishabh Pant possesses a huge strike rate of 160.57 in T20 cricket, and Shreyas Iyer and Chris Morris can hit the ball around, all under the excellent experience and leadership of Gautam Gambhir.
Despite losing Kagiso Rabada to injury, which is a blow, DD still have enough quality in their line up to deliver a near complete performance.
Colin Munro – in good form.

Possible teams:

As mentioned, KXIP’s top six looks dangerous, coupled with a bowling attack that has variety. Chris Gayle is one of the purchases of the tournament, picked up for a cheap price in the last round of bidding in the IPL Auction. Despite being 38, he can still hit the ball miles. Expect Axar Patel, Ravi Ashwin, Andrew Tye, Mohit Sharma and Barinder Sran to make up the specialist bowling attack, with possible overs from the likes of Gayle, Yuvraj and Stoinis. This side gives Ashwin plenty of options, in my opinion.
Kings XI Punjab XI: 1. Chris Gayle, 2. KL Rahul, 3. Karun Nair, 4. Yuvraj Singh, 5. David Miller, 6. Marcus Stoinis, 7. Axar Patel, 8. Ravichandran Ashwin (c), 9. Andrew Tye, 10. Mohit Sharma, 11. Barinder Sran
One conundrum that DD will have is where does Gautam Gambhir bat? Does he open? Also, expect Trent Boult and Mohammed Shami to be the two specialist seamers.
Delhi Daredevils XI: 1. Gautam Gambhir (c), 2. Colin Munro, 3. Jason Roy, 4. Rishabh Pant (wk), 5. Shreyas Iyer, 6. Chris Morris, 7. Vijay Shankar, 8. Amit Mishra, 9. Mohammed Shami, 10. Trent Boult, 11. Shahbaz Nadeem

Stats and Facts:


  • Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils will be looking to improve on disappointing 2017 seasons, where they finished fifth and sixth respectively.
  • Battle between the two captains – Ravichandran Ashwin has bowled 47 deliveries to Gautam Gambhir, with 43 runs scored, and two wickets taken. Another key figure is that Gautam Gambhir has captained in 123 IPL matches, whereas this is Ashwin’s first in any T20 match.
  • David Miller has scored 141 off 94 balls off all DD’s available bowlers, dismissed only once.
  • Colin Munro since 2015: SR of 157 against fast bowlers and 145 against spin. In 9 T20Is so far in 2018, he has scored 396 runs at an average of 49.50 and SR of 193.17
  • Delhi Daredevils will be hoping Gautam Gambhir can lead them to a title – he has led Kolkata Knight Riders to two.
  • Head-to-Head: Played 20, Kings XI Punjab 11, Delhi Daredevils: 9

Prediction:

Like the first match of IPL 2018, this is a tough one to predict. I will pick Kings XI Punjab to take this match, as I can see their batting firing well, as well as their bowling attack doing enough to keep DD relatively quiet.
Promises to be another exciting clash!

Be sure to catch my Preview of KKR v RCB:

Charbel Coorey
Charbel Cooreyhttps://cricblog.net
Charbel is the owner & founder of cricblog.net, based in Sydney, Australia. He started the website to fulfill his love for the game of cricket. Charbel has been featured on other publications including OP India, Times of India, and The Roar, among others. He is also a keen fantasy sports player. Charbel has also had the privilege of interviewing cricketers on the CricBlog TV YouTube channel, including James Neesham, Rassie van der Dussen, Andrew Tye, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat and Saurabh Netravalkar: https://www.youtube.com/@cricblogtv For any story tips or questions, you can contact Charbel at charbelcoorey@cricblog.net.

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