The 11th match of the IPL 2021 will see Delhi Capitals (DC) clashing with Punjab Kings (PBKS) on April 18, in the second match of the double-header. The match will be played in Mumbai and will be a night affair, starting at 7.30 PM IST.
Punjab Kings played 2 matches and have won one and lost one, while Capitals are also in the same boat, but with a better net run rate. PBKS lost their previous match to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) after posting just 106 batting first in Mumbai. Delhi Capitals lost to Rajasthan Royals in a similar way.
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The Mumbai pitch has become slower with the ball holding on to the surface and batting has become difficult. This might entice both the participating teams to tweak their playing XIs to suit the surface and Team COC presents the Predicted Playing XIs for the DC v PBKS match.
DELHI CAPITALS (DC)
Delhi Capitals (DC), who had a brilliant outing against the Chennai Super Kings, was rattled badly by Rajasthan Royals in their next match and a change to playing XI, meant that they were a batsman short.
Kagiso Rabada was included in the team in place of Shimron Hetmyer instead of Tom Curran, but their batsmen failed to come to terms with the new look Mumbai strip which made batting hard.
However, for this match, DC will have their two best bowlers in the XI again, with Anrich Nortje available and he will team up with Kagiso Rabada to try and hurt the Punjab batting lineup. Batting-wise, it was an off day for Dhawan, Shaw, and Stoinis, while for Rahane, it might be his last chance, for now, to get some runs under his kitty.
Chris Woakes is providing amazing balance to the team with his batting at no.7 and getting the ball to move at the start. Avesh Khan’s pace is helping Pant keep the aggressive batsmen under check. This is an important match for DC to get back into their winning ways.
PUNJAB KINGS (PBKS)
Punjab Kings were truly blown away by Deepak Chahar of Chennai Super Kings the other day and it was a rude reminder for them that on a particular day, anything could happen.
Mayank Agarwal’s form is a worry for the Punjab outfit, while Nicholas Pooran might benefit from a promotion up the batting order to get some runs under his belt and gain confidence. The rest of the PBKS batting lineup is in decent touch.
The fast bowling unit of Shami, Meredith, and Richardson has been on target and even made the small chase for CSK a bit of hassle for them. However, they need to bring in Ravi Bishnoi for M Ashwin, as a proper leg-spinner might get more purchase out of that Mumbai surface where the ball stuck into the pitch and batsmen couldn’t time the ball well.
DC COC Predicted Playing XI:
Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (C&WK), Marcus Stoinis, Lalit Yadav, Chris Woakes, R Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan, Anrich Nortje
PBKS COC Predicted Playing XI:
Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (C&WK), Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Shahrukh Khan, Jhye Richardson, Mohammad Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Riley Meredith
