New Delhi, May 13 Both Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants find themselves on the same boat – having 12 points each in the standings and net run rate in negative. With their playoffs hopes on a sticky wicket, both DC and LSG meet at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday with an eye to get those two crucial points and keep themselves in contention for a knockouts spot.
LSG will be back in IPL action after a five-day break post a ten-wicket drubbing at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad. All the talk from the LSG batters’ inept performance barring 55 not out and an unbeaten 48 from Ayush Badoni and Nicholas Pooran respectively, and the inability of their bowlers to stop a marauding Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma was taken away by team owner Sanjiv Goenka’s dressing down to captain KL Rahul in full public view.
With Goenka being extensively criticised for his conduct towards Rahul and the majority holding a view that such talks should be held privately, it will now be apt for the LSG skipper to draw everyone’s attention by coming out all guns blazing with a coherent performance in all departments to boost their playoffs chances.
For starters, Rahul and Quinton De Kock need to fire in power-play and support the big-hitting acts of Marcus Stoinis, Pooran and Badoni, who knows the venue well due to it being his home ground in domestic cricket circuit.
Without tearaway pacer Mayank Yadav and left-arm fast-bowler Mohsin Khan, LSG look light on the pace-bowling front, which means Yash Thakur and Naveen-ul-Haq have to step up alongside spinners Krunal Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi.
On the other hand, Delhi Capitals are as desperate as LSG to get those two points after a 47-run loss to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday gave a hammer blow to their playoffs hopes, with their net run rate down to -0.482.
Even if they beat LSG in their final league game by a big margin on Tuesday, DC would require other games results to swing their way, which means their playoffs hopes are hanging by a slim thread.
The franchise dearly missed its designated captain Rishabh Pant in Sunday’s game due to a slow-over rate suspension, with Axar Patel taking up the leadership mantle and getting a fighting fifty in the process.
But DC would also be ruing over the four dropped catches as well as losing four wickets in power-play to be bowled out for 140, their lowest total in IPL 2024. What should come as a boosting factor for them is that they have won at their home venue whenever they posted above 200 while batting first.
Apart from Pant, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel and Tristan Stubbs have been DC’s chief run-makers. With the ball, Khaleel Ahmed, Rasikh Salam, Mukesh Kumar, Axar and Kuldeep Yadav hold the key for Delhi's success at a venue where run-fests have been the norm.
Overall, it promises to be a tantalising clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, where both teams would be aiming to put their best foot forward, with an eye to give themselves the best and last possible chance of entering the playoffs.
Squads
Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant (c), Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Axar Patel, Mukesh Kumar, Mitchell Marsh, Anrich Nortje, Pravin Dubey, Vicky Ostwal, Abishek Porel, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Lalit Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Yash Dhull, Tristan Stubbs, Ricky Bhui, Kumar Kushagra, Rasikh Dar, Jhye Richardson, Sumit Kumar, Shai Hope, Lizaad Williams, Swastik Chhikara and Gulbadin Naib.
Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Krunal Pandya, Kyle Mayers, Devdutt Padikkal, Yudhvir Singh, Prerak Mankad, Yash Thakur, Amit Mishra, Shamar Joseph, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, K. Gowtham, Arshin Kulkarni, Manimaran Siddharth, Ashton Turner, Matt Henry, and Arshad Khan.
Match starts at 7:30pm on Star Sports (TV) and JioCinema (Digital).
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