Can Daredevils quicks take over Kings XI's den?
Match facts
Kings XI Punjab v Delhi Daredevils
Mohali, April 30, 2017
Start time 1600 local (1030 GMT)
Head-to-head
This season: Delhi Daredevils handed Kings XI Punjab a 51-run drubbing in their first home game at Feroz Shah Kotla.
Overall: In 19 games between these two teams, Kings XI have won 10 times. There are some caveats, however. Kings XI have lost to Daredevils four times in their last five matches but, in Mohali, they have lost only once in four games.
In the news
Hashim Amla, who missed Kings XI's last game with a hamstring injury, attended an optional training on Saturday and has "a chance to play on Sunday", according to team-mate Shaun Marsh.
Daredevils captain Zaheer Khan had to leave the field on Friday, clutching his hamstring, but at the post-match presentation, he said it didn't "look that bad".
Marlon Samuels, Daredevils' replacement for Quinton de Kock, has landed in the country but is yet to join the squad.
West Indies allrounder Darren Sammy, who missed the first three weeks of this IPL due to injury, has joined the Kings XI squad and "is ready to play" the IPL again, having gone unsold at the auction last season.
The likely XIs
Kings XI Punjab: 1 Martin Guptill/Hashim Amla, 2 Shaun Marsh, 3 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 4 Manan Vohra, 5 Glenn Maxwell (capt), 6 Axar Patel, 7 Matt Henry 8 KC Cariappa, 9 Mohit Sharma, 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 T Natarajan/ Ishant Sharma
Delhi Daredevils: 1 Sanju Samson, 2 Karun Nair, 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Chris Morris, 6 Corey Anderson/ Carlos Brathwaite 7 Ankit Bawne, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Zaheer Khan (capt), 11 Amit Mishra
Strategy punt
Kings XI could include New Zealand fast bowler Matt Henry instead of Eoin Morgan or David Miller to beef up their bowling attack which has only taken 36 wickets in their eight games.
Glenn Maxwell has made 55 runs in 29 balls against Amit Mishra, but the legspinner has dismissed him more than any other bowler in the IPL - four times. Expect this rivalry to take center stage early.
Stats that matter
- Kings XI have registered the worst economy rate - 11.43 - among all teams in the last five overs this season. Daredevils, on the contrary, have been the most economical at the death, having conceded at 8.15 runs per over.
- Daredevils' inexperienced batting line-up have not been able to handle the pressure of a chase, losing all of their three matches batting second. Their classy fast bowlers are capable of handling pressure better; both their wins in the tournament have come while defending totals.
- Shaun Marsh has scored only 41 runs off the 36 balls he has faced from Zaheer Khan and has been dismissed twice by the Daredevils captain.
- Marlon Samuels, who has played only ten innings in the IPL till date - the last of them in 2013 for the defunct Pune Warriors franchise - has a highest score of 46. In the Pakistan Super League, he scored 81 runs in five innings at a strike-rate of 121, but did better in the Bangladesh Premier League, scoring 334 in eight innings at an average of 66.80.
- All the three Kings XI bowlers who have bowled three or more overs in the last five - Sandeep Sharma, Mohit Sharma and Axar Patel - have leaked runs at 10 or more per over. Their combined returns: 6 for 250 off the 21.3 overs they sent down.
- Pace has been the preferred weapon of choice in Mohali, yielding 358 wickets at an average of 26.29. Spin, on the other hand, has accounted for 139 wickets at an average of 30.80. In the first IPL match at the PCA Stadium this season, fast bowlers scalped nine wickets while spinners bagged three.