The Free Press Journal

Brar, Bishnoi to prop Kings

- FPJ NEWS SERVICE

Second placed Delhi Capitals take on Punjab Kings as the show goes on in the Indian Premier League, here on Sunday.

After their remarkable outing against Royal Challenger­s Bangalore, on Friday, the Punjab Kings will look forward for the young spinners Harpreet Brar and Ravi Bishnoi who shared five wickets against a menacing Delhi Capitals, aiming to take a giant leap forward in their bid for an Indian Premier League play-off berth.

Brar's match-winning three-wicket haul was complement­ed by Bishnoi's double-strike as their combined haul of 5-36 in 8 overs decimated a star-studded Royal Challenger­s Bangalore.

Come Sunday, the duo will face a tougher task against the Delhi team which has a slightly better record against spin attacks with openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw in imperious form.

Dhawan (311 runs) and Shaw (269 runs) have provided flying starts with five halfcentur­ies between them along with 71 fours and 15 sixes.

For any bowling unit, facing the Dhawan-Shaw duo is a scary propositio­n.

Even Steve Smith and Rishabh Pant are fantastic players when it comes to tackling the slow bowlers.

In fact, Bishnoi, who primarily bowls the googly, will like to challenge the DC skipper, who has a knack of hitting against the spin over deep mid-wicket region.

It won't be therefore surprising if the in-form KL Rahul wants to bat first again and replicate his smashing 57-ball-91 not out against RCB the other day.

For Capitals, there is a chance of veteran leg-spinner Amit Mishra making a comeback into the playing XI after DC watched Bishnoi get so much success in the past few games.

It will be a battle of top orders where Rahul's finesse will be countered by Prithvi Shaw's exuberance while Chirs Gayle will try to overpower Pant's pyrotechni­cs with his own marauding style of batsmanshi­p.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from India