Delhi Capitals vs Punjab Kings Predictions: Delhi badly needs a win to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Playing in their twelfth game of the season Delhi Capitals will welcome Punjab Kings in the 59th game of the season at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on 13th May. Delhi badly needs a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. Who will win this game?

Delhi Capitals

The Delhi Capitals started the season poorly but managed to play well in the middle of the tournament, keeping their hopes of qualifying alive. However, their latest loss to the Chennai Super Kings means they must win all of their remaining games and also depend on other teams' results to qualify.

David Warner was in great form with the bat early in the season but has struggled to score runs in recent matches. Phil Salt and Rilee Rossouw have shown promise but have not been consistent in converting their starts into big scores. Their last match in the capital was a high-scoring affair, which may boost their confidence for this game.

The top Indian batsmen in the squad, including Prithvi Shaw, Manish Pandey, and Sarfaraz Khan, have had a poor run of form, leading to frequent changes in the team's lineup without much success.

Axar Patel has had a good season with the bat, but his performance with the ball has not been up to the mark, as he has been economical but unable to take wickets at regular intervals. Similarly, Kuldeep Yadav has picked up only 9 wickets in 11 matches.

The seamers have done a decent job, with Mitchell Marsh leading the way with 12 wickets. However, Khaleel Ahmed and Ishant Sharma will need to perform better as they face another strong batting lineup.

While the Delhi Capitals squad looks good on paper, their performances have been inconsistent, and their strategies have been criticized as lacking in maturity at times.

Delhi Capitals Predicted Lineup

David Warner (c), Phil Salt (wk), Mitchell Marsh, Rilee Rossouw, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Manish Pandey, Aman Hakim Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed

Punjab Kings

Despite displaying impressive batting performances in their recent matches, the Punjab Kings have only managed to secure favourable outcomes in 2 out of their last 6 games. This has placed them at the 8th position on the points table and they will need to perform exceptionally well in their next three matches to keep their chances of qualifying alive.

The opening duo of Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh will be tasked with giving the team a strong start once again. Dhawan has been the most reliable batsman for the team, with 3 half-centuries in 8 innings and being the leading run-scorer.

Other batsmen such as Jitesh Sharma, Sam Curran, and Liam Livingstone have made useful contributions to help the team put up significant scores. The Punjab Kings have already scored 200 or more runs on four occasions this season, which is a vast improvement from their past performances.

In terms of power-hitting and depth in the lineup, PBKS holds an advantage over their opponents.

However, the team's bowling unit has emerged as a weakness. The team's top seamers, Arshdeep Singh and Sam Curran, have been quite expensive so far, conceding around 10 runs per over. Although Nathan Ellis has had a few good spells, it hasn't been enough to keep the opposition's batsmen under control. Arshdeep, in particular, has lost his confidence and has been conceding runs at the death to all teams.

The spin department has had similar issues, with Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar managing to take only 10 wickets between them this season. Additionally, there have been concerns about Shikhar Dhawan's captaincy, with his inability to adapt to game situations quickly and his tendency to follow set patterns.

Punjab Kings Predicted Lineup

Prabhsimran Singh, Shikhar Dhawan (c), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sam Curran, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Rishi Dhawan, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh

Expert betting tips

In comparison to the other grounds this season, the Arun Jaitley Stadium provides a more fair pitch for both the batsmen and bowlers, with chances for the bowlers to take wickets. The average score of the first innings is around 170. The pitch is relatively dry and slow, with some cracks that can be advantageous for both seamers and spinners. The climate in the area is forecasted to remain warm with temperatures ranging from 33 to 38 degrees Celsius. Delhi has done fairly well at their home in recent weeks and will be looking to continue it in the hopes of qualifying.