The Rising Pune Supergiant and Delhi Daredevils are counted as two underwhelming sides in this edition of the IPL and keeping in mind their run in the previous campaign, not many aspire hopes from these units.

Nevertheless, with cricket being a funny game and T20’s especially funnier, on a given day, any team can outperform the other. Thereby, when these two underdogs clash at the MCA Stadium in Pune, an interesting contest will be on cards.

Back after a stinging loss at Bangalore where the batting unit barring the young Rishab Pant collapsed miserably, the Delhi Daredevils will be up for an improved performance. Having lost as many as two of their first choice openers to injury, the onus will be on the talented middle order comprising of renowned Indian names to lead Delhi’s revival.

The one heartening sight about Delhi in the previous game was in Zaheer Khan’s tactically crisp leadership. Despite calling it quits from international cricket over 18 months ago, Khan looked extremely fresh and displayed no sign of rust.

With the ball as well, India’s best-left arm pacer ever stole the show with a decent bowling performance.

PREVIOUS ENCOUNTER:

During their previous clashes in the 2016 edition, fans witnessed one-sided games, as the Rising Pune Supergiant emerged victorious in both contests.

Their recent encounter at Vizag though was marred by rain as batting first, the Daredevils could only manage a paltry 121 on board. Barring Karun Nair’s steady but slow knock of 43, there wasn’t anything much to write about.

Despite losing opener Usman Khawaja early, Pune seemed well on course with Ajinkya Rahane in the middle with George Bailey. At 76-1 in 11 overs, the heavens opened up and the play was called off, handing Pune a victory by the D/L method.

Supergiant pacer Ashoke Dinda was named the Man of the Match for his three wickets.

Recent form this season:

RPSG: L,W

DD: L

Talking Points:

Sanju Samson is an experienced campaigner and using the word “talented” plainly makes no sense after so many years. Despite all that raw talent, Samson has been miserably inconsistent and failed to make a niche for himself even though he has been around for now almost five seasons.

At Bangalore, he played a nothing shot to get out which ultimately led to a collapse. It’s high time before he assesses his own mindset while coming out to bat in the middle.

Rishab Pant didn’t let personal tragedy come in his way as he played a knock charged up with an ocean of emotions in his mind. Against a weak bowling attack like Pune, Pant will fancy his chances to score another big knock and batting higher up the order would be the right move for this gifted wicketkeeper-batsman.

DD Predicted XI: