PBKS vs DC: Punjab Kings eye big win against Delhi to keep play-off hopes alive

Punjab Kings will be eager to register a big win to keep their IPL playoff hopes alive against wooden spooners Delhi Capitals who will play for pride when the two teams face off on WednesdayIt has been a rollercoaster ride for PBKS with six losses and as many wins They are placed at eighth spot with 12 points and are still in contention to make the qualifiers However they need to improve their net run rate NRR which stands at 0268A 31run win against the Capitals last week boosted their NRR and morale and the Shikhar Dhawanled side will hope for an encore and then hope that other results go their wayAlso Read IPL 2023 Prabhsimran spinners lead Punjab Kings to a 31run win over Delhi CapitalsPunjab will have to put up a much improved effort with the bat Against Delhi opener Prabhsimran Singh waged a lone battle Barring Dhawan who has been their best batter and to an extent Prabhsimran Singh very few PBKS batters have contributed enough to their overall totalsTheir bowlers also need to pull up their socks Boasting of a sound bowling attack with Nathan Ellis Sam Curran and Arshdeep Singh PBKS have often failed to defend runsOn the other hand Delhi Capitals have had a nightmare of a season and have already been knocked out of the playoff contentionThe batting unit has disappointed all season Delhis Indian batters barring Axar Patel have flattered to deceive putting up a dismal show The abject failure of Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan has contributed significantly to Delhi Capitals travails this season forcing the thinktank to pack all their overseas players at the topSkipper David Warner wicketkeeperbatter Phil Salt and allrounder Mitchell Marsh have given the team some momentum with the willow But once they are gone the middle order just crumblesIn their previous game against Punjab the Capitals looked on course for a comfortable win but then lost eight wickets for 67 runsThe Indian bowlers in the side are not faring as badly as the batters Three of DCs four wins have come on the back of dominant bowling displays Old warhorse Ishant Sharma has done his job while the return of Khaleel Ahmed has also helpedAnrich Nortje who had returned home for personal reasons is back but it is to be seen if Delhi continue with the four overseas batters at the top or bring the South African pacer to tighten their bowling attackThe spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel have bowled economicallyThe squadsPunjab Kings Shikhar Dhawan c Shahrukh Khan Matthew Short Prabhsimran Singh Bhanuka Rajapaksa Jitesh Sharma Gurnoor Singh Brar Rishi Dhawan Liam Livingstone Atharva Taide Arshdeep Singh Baltej Singh Nathan Ellis Kagiso Rabada Rahul Chahar Harpreet Brar Sam Curran Sikandar Raza Harpreet Bhatia Vidwath Kaverappa Mohit Rathee Shivam SinghDelhi Capitals David Warner c Prithvi Shaw Mitchell Marsh Sarfaraz Khan Aman Hakim Khan Abhishek Porel wk Axar Patel Khaleel Ahmed Kuldeep Yadav Rovman Powell Rilee Rossouw Anrich Nortje Mustafizur Rahaman Chetan Sakariya Mukesh Kumar Phil Salt Lungi Ngidi Praveen Dubey Lalit Yadav Ripal Patel Vicky Ostwal Ishant Sharma Manish Pandey Kamlesh Nagarkoti Yash DhullMatch starts at 730 pm ISTThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever