Delhi Capitals to edge opening battle

The Delhi Capitals entertain Kings XI Punjab in their Indian Premier League opener on Sunday with the Capitals looking to get their campaign off to the perfect start. But Kings XI won’t roll over cheaply, so expect a fiercely contested battle between two teams looking to improve on their fortunes of last season.

Leading from the front

This will be a contest of the two least experienced captains in this years IPL. Shreyas Iyer will be taking charge of just his 25^th match for the Delhi Capitals whilst it is the first time that KL Rahul has led Kings XI. Whilst both men haven’t got the same pedigree in terms of captaincy as some of the other IPL franchise teams, they will be looking to bring the best out of their teams if they want to break in to the top four spots this year and fight for the title.

Rahul will be hoping The Universe Boss Chris Gayle will be back to his scintillating best for their opener in the UAE. The West Indian still boasts the record for the highest individual score in the IPL with his 175* back in 2013, but has struggled to find his best form in recent years.

Delhi will be expecting their veteran all-rounder Ravi Ashwin to use all of his experience with both the bat and the ball to get them over the line in this one. Ashwin, who played for Kings XI last year, will be looking to make more of an impact with the bat after only averaging 8.4 last year.

Caught in a spin

For the Delhi Capitals, they are inundated with spin options with Ravi Ashwin, Sandeep Lamichhane, Amit Mishra and Axar Patel all at captian Shreyas Iyer’s disposal. This could prove to be the key in a game that is set to be a close affair. If Delhi are to improve on their third place finish in last year’s IPL, their spin quartet will have to deliver.

For Kings XI the loss of England swing bowler Sam Curran will be devastating. The left arm all-rounder took 4-11 against the Delhi Capitals last year to help them claim a 14 run victory. Curran will be playing his cricket for the Chennai Super Kings in this year’s IPL. As well as that it is likely that Aussie Glenn Maxwell will miss Kings XI opener. Despite getting a flight straight from Manchester, where he is playing against England in the current ODI series, all the players from that series will need to complete a six-day quarantine period before playing.

Match Tip

Any teams first game of a tournament can go either way, but this one is set up to be a close affair. But I think the key difference between the teams is the quality of spinners that the Delhi Capitals have in their armoury.

I’m backing the Delhi Capitals to beat the Kings XI Punjab at 1.8 with 22bet.

Bet Delhi Capitals to win on 22bet