This is the real battle as both the teams have a whole lot to play for. For DD, it is about sealing their playoff berth once and for all and for RPS, it is still about finishing in the top two to give themselves an extra shot at the finals. DD is an in-form team and it can be said that they have picked it at the right time. Sanju and Pant have been making good contributions and they will hope Nair gets in the game big time. Once that happens, you know they are ready for the playoff stage. They play a team, which on their day, can smash any challenger apart with Ben Stokes in ominous touch throughout the tournament. They are hence a well-rounded outfit.
Pune will be without Imran Tahir and Faf du Plessis. The pair left for a preparatory camp in South Africa ahead of a limited-overs series in England before the Champions Trophy. Adam Zampa, the Australia legspinner, is likely to slot in for Tahir.
Pune have 16 points in their bag but they aren’t entirely safe because of an inferior net run rate. They need to win at least one of their two remaining games to guarantee qualification to the playoffs.
The likely XIs
Delhi Daredevils: 1 Sanju Samson, 2 Karun Nair, 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Marlon Samuels, 6 Corey Anderson, 7 Carlos Brathwaite, 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mohammed Shami/Shahbaz Nadeem, 10 Amit Mishra, 11 Zaheer Khan (capt)
Rising Pune Supergiant: 1 Rahul Tripathi, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Manoj Tiwary, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Dan Christian, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Adam Zampa
