Toss Kings XI Punjab chose to bowl v Delhi Daredevils
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03:30
Kings XI’s slump in the slog overs
A hamstring niggle that Zaheer Khan had picked up in his last match took him out of the XI, and fast-forwarded Karun Nair into the time he captains a top-flight T20 side. The 25-year old batsman has led Karnataka in two Ranji Trophy matches before and has been temporarily charged with lifting Delhi Daredevils from last place on the IPL points table.
Glenn Maxwell invited them to bat, reasoning that overnight rain could help his fast bowlers, and hoped that by the second innings the pitch would flatten out.
Daredevils, to account for Zaheer’s absence in the bowling line-up, brought Mohammed Shami back into the XI. That also allowed them to pick opener Sam Billings over fast bowler Pat Cummins, and bulk up their batting resources. Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem was also recalled, taking the place of batsman Ankit Bawne.
Kings XI had some changes as well. Hashim Amla has regained his fitness and reclaimed his position at the top of the order. Martin Guptill, who debuted for KIngs XI in the last game, was persisted with but he will have to get used to batting in the middle order.
Maxwell also preferred some extra pace in the bowling attack, opting for Varun Aaron over Anureet Singh. Ishant Sharma was pushed out of the XI for the variation that left-arm quick T Natarajan provided.
Delhi Daredevils: 1 Sanju Samson, 2 Sam Billings, 3 Karun Nair (capt), 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Chris Morris, 7 Corey Anderson 8 Kagiso Rabada 9 Amit Mishra, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Shahbaz Nadeem
Kings XI Punjab: 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Manan Vohra, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Martin Guptill, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 6 Axar Patel, 7 Matt Henry 8 Mohit Sharma, 9 Varun Aaron, 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 T Natarajan
Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo