IPL 2025 Preview | PBKS eye top-two climb against down-and-out DC in Jaipur

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Captains Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel are both doubtful to lead when DC and PBKS meet in Jaipur on Saturday

Punjab Kings will walk in as the firm favourites when they take on Delhi Capitals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Saturday as they push for a top-two finish. Delhi have won just one of their last nine games and stand eliminated while a win for Punjab would take them top of the table.

The Indian Premier League is all set for a rare replay as Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals prepare to resume their rivalry on Friday. The two teams were originally slated to play on May 9 in Dharamsala, and did turn up too for 10 overs when Priyansh Arya and Prabhismran Singh scored stunning half-centuries each to plunder an astonishing 122 runs within 10 overs, before play was called off due to security reasons. The match was then abandoned, and all records of the fixture were removed from the official books, meaning their upocoming encounter will be a fresh restart.

Except, there will be one big caveat -- there were still stakes for Delhi when they had taken the field then, as they stood a chance of qualifying to the playoffs. While their hopes have been erased, Punjab have already secured a top-four berth and now turn their vision to a berth in Qualifier 1 with a top-two finish.

The sequence of event is ironic, given both teams were quickly touted as the early favourites after they went unbeaten through their first four games of the league campaign. Yet, Delhi are now on a five-match winless streak and Punjab have not lost for nearly a month now. The form book firmly suggests Delhi stand little chance of eking out any points against their rivals -- yet, their recent debacle is perhaps their only hope, for the only thing that can save them on Friday is the law of averages.

Form Guide

PBKS: W W W NR L

DC: L L NR L L

PBKS vs DC Head to head in T20s

Even though Delhi Capitals have had the wood over Punjab Kings in recent times, winning five of their last seven encounters, the latter still boast a better head-to-head record as of before the game. However, should Delhi manage to eke out a win to avenge last season's loss, both teams will stand tied with 17 wins each.

PBKS 17-16 DC

Pitch and Weather

There have been five team scores exceeding 200 in the last three games in Jaipur, of which just one has resulted in a successful chase. However, the pitch has historically favoured the slower bowlers and offered plenty of grip to the pacers. As the season wears on, the higher volume of games than expected at the venue may lead to wear and tear, and another downturn in the scoring rates, thus lowering the current average first innings score of 199 in Jaipur in IPL 2025.

There is nothing to be concerned about with regards to the weather, as forecasts predict a sunny day followed by clear night skies and temperatures of around 33 degrees Centigrade.

Team News

Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer did not field in the previous game after injuring his finger on match-eve and it remains to be seen whether he will once again participate as an Impact Player or be in the field leading. Apart from that, a season long rotation of foreign players means the likes of Azmatullah Omarzai and Mith Owen are always under threat of being replaced by a Marcus Stoinis and Josh Inglis albeit we expect them to retain their places. Punjab could also be tempted to try out replacement signing Kyle Jamieson even though Xavier Bartlett has held his own so far.

Delhi Capitals, meanwhile, were without their captain too in the previous game as Axar Patel missed out with flu. In the all-rounder's gluing absence, the middle-order crumbled like a house of cards, and the team would be itching for their star player's return. Madhav Tiwari is likely to make way for Axar who should be good to go, with Mukesh Kumar being the only doubtful in the lineup as T Natarajan lies in wait.

PBKS Probable XII: Prabhsimran (wk), Arya, Iyer (c), Wadhera, Owen, Shashank, Omarzai, Jansen, Brar, Bartlett, Arshdeep, Chahal

DC Probable XII: Rahul, du Plessis, Porel(wk), Rizvi, Axar(c), Stubbs, Ashutosh, Nigam, Kuldeep, Chameera, Mukesh, Mustafizur