What

The Delhi Daredevils will play their first home game of VIVO IPL 2018 when they take on Kings XI Punjab in Match 22.

DD have played five matches so far – all of them on the road, and sit at the bottom of the standings with just the one win. In their most-recent outing, they were at the receiving end of the genius of AB de  Villiers in Bengaluru; despite setting a competitive target of 175, the Daredevils were blown away by de Villiers, who scored an unbeaten 90 (made from 39 balls).

The Daredevils need to address the problem in their bowling line-up immediately; they have so far conceded totals of 167, 153, 194, 200 and 176 in their five matches – that’s an overall economy of 9.40. Chris Morris and Mohammed Shami, who were expected to be the team’s bowling spearheads, have only picked up 6 wickets between them, leaking runs at a rate of 10.31 runs per over.

Kings XI Punjab are on a roll; they have four wins from five matches. In their last three outings, they have earned points against the Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders. KXIP have so far won games riding on the performance of their batsmen; Chris Gayle and KL Rahul have led the way, while Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair have contributed useful runs in the middle. The one area the team needs to tighten up is on the pace bowling front; Andrew Tye has 7 wickets in his kitty and an economy rate of 8.25, while the Indian quicks have together collected 7 wickets and have leaked runs at 10.39 runs per over. Ravichandran Ashwin has been imaginative with his leadership of the team, but he has received some tap in the last couple of matches.

When

23 April 2018, 2000Hrs (IST)

Where

Ferozeshah Kotla, Delhi

Impact Batsmen

Both teams are stacked with some of the most powerful strikers of the cricket ball. The Delhi Daredevils have Rishabh Pant,Jason Roy and Glenn Maxwell in the line-up, while KXIP’s openers Chris Gayle and KL Rahul have already caused plenty of destruction this season.

Of course, there are others too, who have looked impressive at times – Shreyas Iyer for DD, and Karun Nair for KXIP.

Impact Bowlers

Mujeeb ur Rahman’s four overs, and how many runs he concedes and how many wickets he is able to take, will have a huge bearing on the outcome of the match. As will Andrew Tye, who has been excellent while bowling at the death; his economy rate while bowling between overs 16 & 20 this season stands at 7.75.

Team Head to Head

Overall: Matches – 21, Delhi Daredevils won – 9, Kings XI Punjab won – 12

At the Ferozeshah Kotla: Matches – 9, Delhi Daredevils won – 5, Kings XI Punjab won – 4

Trivia

The Delhi Daredevils will want to improve on their overall poor record at home; in the ten seasons of the IPL, their win-loss record at the Ferozeshah Kotla reads 23 wins & 32 losses. Last season though, the Daredevils won 4 of their 7 home matches.

The average first innings total in IPL 2017 matches at the FerozshahKotla was 184.

Kings XI Punjab’s opening partnerships in VIVO IPL 2018 read 58, 32, 96, 53 & 116. In contrast, KXIP’s opponents have only managed opening partnerships of 12, 1, 17, 14 & 6.

What Next

The Delhi Daredevils’ next fixture will be their home game against the Kolkata Knight Riders, scheduled for April 27. Kings XI Punjab meanwhile head to Hyderabad for their away fixture against Sunrisers Hyderabad, scheduled for April 26.