Find out team news, TV and streaming information, odds, weather forecasts and much, much more ahead of the 29th game of the new Indian Premier League season
Punjab Kings take on Delhi Capitals in the 29th match of the 2021 IPL.
The game is scheduled for 7.30pm IST (3pm BST) on Sunday, May 2, 2021.
Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium will stage the match.
Punjab Kings have had a mixed tournament, winning three matches and losing four without stringing together a run of performances. However, they come into this match on a high after defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore by 34 runs on April 30.
One pattern is emerging for Punjab, however: when KL Rahul goes big, the team do well. In his side’s three wins, Rahul has scored 91, 60 not out, and, against RCB, an unbeaten 91 from just 57 deliveries. When they’ve lost, their captain has scored five, 61, four and 19. In short, Rahul’s form influences his team.
Delhi, meanwhile, are second in the table after seven matches, winning five and losing two. Rishabh Pant’s side, who reached the final last year, have only lost one of their past five matches – a one-run defeat to RCB – but were run close by Sunrisers Hyderabad, needing a Super Over to secure victory.
Dafabet have Delhi Capitals as the favourites to win this match, offering odds of 6/4. Punjab are 23/20.
Punjab are, however, predicted to score the most sixes with odds of 6/4 while Delhi are available at 13/8.
KL Rahul is backed to top-score for Punjab, available at 15/8. Shikhar Dhawan is 11/5 to top-score for Delhi.
Aside from Rahul, Punjab’s key man against RCB was Harpreet Brar. Making his first appearance of the season, Brar bowled with an economy of 4.75 and took three for 19 – dismissing Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, and AB de Villiers – as well as chipping in with 25 off 17 deliveries with the bat. Expect him to retain his place in the starting XI.
Then, there’s Chris Gayle. In his first five matches, the Universe Boss, ranked 55th on the T20 player Index, scored just 119 runs at number three but rolled back the years against RCB to score 46 from 24 deliveries. A promising sign for Punjab and a hugely worrying one for their opponents.
In the Delhi camp, Avesh Khan is having an IPL to remember, with 13 wickets and an economy of 7.38 in seven appearances. Elsewhere, Prithvi Shaw is on fire with the bat, passing 50 on three occasions and contributing 269 runs – second only to Dhawan – at a huge strike rate of 165.03.
Mayank Agarwal missed out for Punjab against RCB having sustained a blow to his arm against Kolkata Knight Riders. His replacement, Prabhsimran Singh, scored just seven runs before departing but may be included again if Agarwal is unable to bat.
Riley Meredith and Harpreet Brar also came into the XI, replacing Moises Henriques and Arshdeep Singh, and will likely retain their places following Punjab’s convincing win over RCB.
Delhi, meanwhile, are without Ravichandran Ashwin, who has left the IPL to be with his family during the latest wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
The two teams have played each other 27 times.
Delhi Capitals wins: 12
Punjab Kings wins: 15
Hot and dry conditions are forecast in Ahmedabad, with temperatures in the mid-30s.
No, this match will be played behind closed doors owing to the Covid-19 situation in India.
This match will likely hinge on the performance of Rahul – if he can anchor his side’s innings, Punjab have a strong chance of moving within two points of Delhi; if he doesn’t, Pant’s side will ease to victory.
IPL TEAM GUIDES
Sky Sports have the rights in the United Kingdom.
You can aso stream the tournament using the Disney+ Hotstar digital platform, though the matches are only available for VIP or Premium subscribers.
Star Sports have the television rights in India.
Streaming service YuppTV have acquired digital streaming rights in a host of markets, including Australia, continental Europe, Malaysia, Southeast Asia with the exception of Singapore, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, Central Asia, and Central and South America.
In the USA, the games will be broadcast on Willow TV and the Willow TV website. Fox Sports have the broadcasting rights in Australia, while Supersport will televise the games in South Africa. In the Caribbean, Flow TV have the rights.
The following broadcasters owning the rights for their respective regions:
Bangladesh: Channel 9
Afghanistan: Lemar TV
Malaysia: Measat
MENA/UAE: BeIN Sport
Hong Kong: Now TV
Singapore: SingTel
New Zealand: Sky Sport
Papua New Guinea: EMTV
Punjab Kings squad: KL Rahul (c), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Prabhsimran Singh, Mohammed Shami, Chris Jordan, Darshan Nalkande, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel, Dawid Malan, Jhye Richardson, Shahrukh Khan, Riley Meredith, Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena, Utkarsh Singh, Fabian Allen, Saurabh Kumar
Delhi Capitals squad: Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Prithvi Shaw, Ravichandran Ashwin (left IPL for personal reasons on April 25), Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Lalit Yadav, Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Chris Woakes, Anrich Nortje, Steve Smith, Umesh Yadav, Ripal Patel, Lukman Hussain Meriwala, M Siddharth, Tom Curran, Sam Billings, Pravin Dubey, Vishnu Vinod
PK: KL Rahul, Prabhsimran Singh, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Riley Meredith, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammad Shami, Chris Jordan
DC: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Steve Smith, Rishabh Pant, Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Lalit Yadav, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan, Ishand Sharma
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