DC vs PBKS 59th Match Prediction

DC vs PBKS Team Previews

Delhi Capitals

After making a terrible start to the season, the Delhi Capitals played some excellent cricket during the middle of the season to keep their qualification chances alive. But a loss against the Chennai Super Kings in their latest fixture means that the team must now win each of their upcoming games and will still have to depend on the outcomes of other teams’ matches to qualify.

Skipper David Warner was excellent with the bat early on in the season but has been found struggling to score runs in his last few outings. Phil Salt and Rilee Rossouw have got a couple of good starts but have failed to convert them consistently into big scores. They were beliigerent when they last played in the capital and that could give them confidence ahead of this match also.

It is a similar story with the top Indian batsmen of the squad too, as the likes of Prithvi Shaw, Manish Pandey, and Sarfaraz Khan have had a terrible run. DC has chopped and changed between them without much success.

Axar Patel on the other hand has played exceedingly well with the bat, making this his best season in terms of the number of runs scored. He hasn’t been that lucky with the ball though as despite being economical, he hasn’t been able to take wickets at regular intervals.

It is a similar story with Kuldeep Yadav, who has picked up just 9 wickets in 11 matches. The seamers have done a decent job with Mitchell Marsh leading the way at 12 wickets.

Khaleel Ahmed and Ishant Sharma have bowled well in patches but will have to perform even better as they take on yet another strong batting line-up here. DC's squad looks pretty decent on paper but their performances have always fallen short and their strategies seem a bit school-boyish at times. 

Punjab Kings

Despite putting up some of the strongest batting efforts in their recent matches, the Punjab Kings have failed to get favorable outcomes in 4 of their last 6 matches. As a result, the Punjab Kings are currently 8th on the points table and will need to play exceedingly well in each of their upcoming 3 games to keep their qualification hopes alive.

Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh will once again open the batting here and will be looking to give the team a good start. Dhawan has by far been the most consistent batsman in the team, scoring 3 half-centuries in 8 innings, and is also the leading run-getter in the team.

The others, including Jitesh Sharma, Sam Curran, and Liam Livingstone have chipped in on several occasions, and have helped the team put up some big totals. Punjab Kings have scored 200 or more on 4 occasions this season, which is their best such performance since the 2014 season.

In terms of power-hitting through the middle and depth in the lineup, PBKS holds a definite advantage.

However, it is the bowling that has emerged to be a weak link for the team.

Arshdeep Singh and Sam Curran, who are the team’s top seamers, have been taken for around 10 runs per over so far. Nathan Ellis has bowled well in patches but that hasn’t nearly been enough to contain the opposition batsmen. Arshdeep, in particular, seems to have lost his confidence and is being smashed about at the death by all teams.

It is a similar story in the spin department too, as Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar have managed to pick up just 10 wickets between them so far. We would also like to point out the terrible captaincy that Shikhar Dhawan has shown. He follows set-patterns and does not seem to be able to ract to game situations quick enough.