Delhi Capitals vs Punjab Kings, Indian Premier League 2021, Today Match Prediction 18 Apr 2021

dc vs pbks Match Prediction & Analysis

Indian Premier League 2021 has so far witnessed interesting games. From high scoring ones to sides struggling to put up a decent total, we have seen them all. The 11th game would see the Delhi Capitals take on the Punjab Kings. Both the sides lost their previous games with Capitals losing to the Rajasthan Royals while the Punjab Kings suffered a huge defeat against the Chennai Super Kings.  

Punjab Kings are a top heavy batting line-up dependent on their top 3 - KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Chris Gayle. This is one of the major weaknesses for the side as they would be tested against the good fast bowling attack that Delhi Capitals have. It will be interesting to see which of the two sides is able to march to their second win of the season and regain its confidence.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Delhi Capitals Preview

It was a bad day in the office for Rishabh Pant’s side in their last game against the Rajasthan Royals where the side ended up losing by 3 wickets. A batting collapse scripted their loss and this is the area Pant would be looking to strengthen for the next game. Pant would be aware of Punjab Kings’ struggle in the middle order and expect his bowlers to exploit this here. 

They have a solid opening pair in Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw and runs would be expected from both these players after their failure in the last game. Steven Smith is expected to come into this game and strengthen the middle order with Pant and Ajinkya Rahane. They would be hoping for runs down the order from Lalit Yadav and Chris Woakes in this game.

 With the ball the side would look for a strong start from Avesh Khan and Anrich Nortje with the South African adding a new dimension to the attack. Kagiso Rabada would be expected to do maximum damage with his pace and bounce. Ravichandran Ashwin has looked good and needs to down well in the middle overs along with Chris Woakes. 

Top Batsman – Rishabh Pant    
Top Bowler – Kagiso Rabada

Delhi Capitals Predicted Playing XI:

Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Steven Smith, Chris Woakes, Ravichandran Ashwin, Lalit Yadav, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Avesh Khan

Punjab Kings Preview

It was a disastrous performance from KL Rahul’s side in the last game against the Chennai Super Kings and the skipper would be upset with the way his top order fell like a pack of cards in the game. He needs to motivate his players to do well in this game as they are up against a very strong opponent.  

Mayank Agarwal has missed out in both the games and needs to offer good support to Rahul opening the batting. Chris Gayle and Deepak Hooda must stabilize the middle order and runs would be expected from Nicholas Pooran who has had two poor outings.  Shahrukh Khan did well in the last game and needs to do the big hitting towards the end with Jhye Richardson. 

Mohammad Shami looking good with the new ball and he would be expected to strike early here along with Richardson. Arshdeep Singh has impressed in both the games and shall need to do well in the middle overs along with Riley Meredith. Ishan Porel is likely to play here and needs to perform the role of the fifth bowler well.

 Top Batsman – KL Rahul    
Top Bowler – Mohammad Shami 

Punjab Kings Predicted Playing XI:

KL Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Jhye Richardson, Ishan Porel , Riley Meredith, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh

Punjab Kings Actual Playing XI:

Marcus Stoinis, Steven Smith, CR Woakes, Lalit Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Avesh Khan, Prithvi Shaw, Kagiso Rabada, Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Lukman Meriwala

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

The skies over Mumbai would be clear on April 18 and like the earlier games we don’t expect there to be much on this surface. Batsmen would have a really good time on this surface where they can hit the ball on the rise. The side batting first in this game should be eying a total in excess of 180 runs.

Venue Details

Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai is a batsmen friendly venue with the flat surface and the shorter boundaries aiding the batsmen. It is an extremely difficult wicket for the fast bowlers as there is little for them here. Spinners who are willing to take the risk and pitch the ball up have done well on this surface.

Toss: To Bowl

Three of the four games have gone in favor of the sides that have opted to chase the score so far. There is some early assistance on the surface for the bowlers and it becomes better to bat on as the game progresses. Hence, the side winning the toss would have no hesitation in bowling first on this surface.