Dharamshala: In the heated race for the playoffs, the toss for the high-stakes fixture between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals has been delayed due to rain on Thursday in the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
IPL took to X and wrote, “Toss in Match 58 between @PunjabKingsIPL and @DelhiCapitals in Dharamshala delayed due to rain.”
The covers are on, and a little rain is visible at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium. Punjab is flying high and occupying the third spot, while Delhi, in the fifth spot, sits outside the playoff bracket.
Delhi Capitals began their campaign with four victories on the trot, but lost the winning momentum, considering their two wins in the last six fixtures. They managed to survive a defeat in their previous fixture after mustering up just 133 while batting first against the Sunrisers in Hyderabad. Delhi has tried six opening pairs, but none have worked wonders for the Capitals as they walk towards the do-or-die territory.
On the other hand, Punjab Kings enter the fixture on the back of two successive wins. Under Shreyas Iyer’s leadership, Punjab notched up a thumping 37-run victory over Lucknow Super Giants at the same venue. A victory will take them to the top of the table and become the first team to confirm their spot in the playoffs.
Squads:
Punjab Kings Squad: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer(c), Josh Inglis(w), Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Suryansh Shedge, Harpreet Brar, Xavier Bartlett, Praveen Dubey, Musheer Khan, Vishnu Vinod, Yash Thakur, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen, Harnoor Singh, Pyla Avinash, Mitchell Owen
Delhi Capitals Squad: Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, KL Rahul(w), Axar Patel(c), Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Ashutosh Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Darshan Nalkande, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sameer Rizvi, Donovan Ferreira, Tripurana Vijay, Manvanth Kumar L, Madhav Tiwari, Sediqullah Atal.