New opening combo, again:
Gujarat Lions have a different opening combination for today. While Brendon McCullum remains a constant, like he's been right through, Ishan Kishan makes way for Dwayne Smith. The more you tinker, the more uncertain you are. Can't fathom why Kishan has been moved down the order, especially since he seemed to thrive at the top.
Captain Comments:
Karun: We are bowling first. We did well last game and there will be dew later on, so I prefer chasing. We gained momentum by winning the last game. We want to take one game at a time and enjoy ourselves. Three changes: Morris, Mathews, Jayant OUT. Cummins, Samuels and Nadeem are in.
Raina: We would have loved to bowled first here. But we just have to go out there and put runs on the board, and the rest is upto the bowlers. We just have to go there and express yourself. Go there with the right approach and enjoy the game. We are playing with the same eleven.
Playing XIs:
Delhi Daredevils (Playing XI): Sanju Samson, Karun Nair(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Shreyas Iyer, Marlon Samuels, Corey Anderson, Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada, Shahbaz Nadeem, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami
Gujarat Lions (Playing XI): Ishan Kishan, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina(c), Aaron Finch, Dwayne Smith, Dinesh Karthik(w), Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner, Pradeep Sangwan, Basil Thampi, Ankit Soni
Toss:
Delhi Daredevils opt to bowl. Three changes for the hosts including a first DD cap for Marlon Samuels. Cummins and Nadeem have also been brought in. Surprisingly, Chris Morris misses out. Gujarat Lions are unchanged.
Build up:
Welcome to the clash between two laggards of the IPL this season. Delhi and Gujarat haven't faced each other in this year's edition of the tournament but both find themselves in a similar sort of situation. Basically, both teams are hanging off the same rope which is tethered to a rock above the cliff. The winning team gets the opportunity to kick the other off the rope. However, the winner need not rejoice. The rope is pretty much made of tissue fibre and it's about to rain. If you didn't understand my beautifully crafted metaphor (what's wrong with you?), simply put, both teams need to win all their matches to have a chance for the playoffs, and even then (if you're Gujarat Lions), there's no guarantee of making it. Hello and welcome to our live blog. This is Sagar Chawla, and you can chip in with your thoughts at @SagarChawla90.
DwYLoeNokBE