Delhi Capitals won the toss against Chennai Super Kings and Axar Patel opted to bat first. The left-hander’s call was driven by a sense that the surface could slow down, making it harder for the chasing side to score quickly in the second innings.
CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad seemed ready for that kind of match-up, pointing to the wicket looking dry and suggesting the ball may grip and stop rather than skid onto the bat. Chennai would have preferred to bowl, but since they lost the toss they had to accept batting first as the opening plan.
There was also a weather factor in play: rain fell in Delhi overnight, and conditions remained unsettled into the afternoon. CSK’s thinking was that those changes could still leave the pitch in a state that suits batting, even if it doesn’t behave like a flat track.
Quick facts
- Delhi Capitals won the toss and Axar Patel chose to bat.
- Axar Patel expected a slower pitch that could curb rapid scoring in the second innings.
- Ruturaj Gaikwad felt the dry wicket might cause the ball to stop rather than come onto the bat easily.
- Overnight rain in Delhi followed by rain in the afternoon influenced expectations around pitch conditions.
- Lungi Ngidi returned for Delhi Capitals; Kyle Jamieson dropped out.
- Karun Nair was added to Delhi’s XI; Sameer Rizvi moved to the Impact Players bench.
- Chennai made changes including Akeal Hosein and Gurjapneet Singh coming into the side.
- CSK’s reshuffle came after injury to allrounder Ramakrishna Ghosh.
Delhi Capitals are back to full strength in their bowling attack, with Lungi Ngidi returning to the XI. He comes in for Kyle Jamieson, giving DC a fresh look in the pace department.
DC also adjusted their batting and squad balance: Karun Nair has been drafted in, while Sameer Rizvi has been moved down to the Impact Players bench. The change reshapes their middle-order options for the opening phase and beyond.
Chennai Super Kings, meanwhile, made a couple of alterations of their own. Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein and left-arm quick Gurjapneet Singh are both included, changing how CSK plans to attack through the powerplay and middle overs.
CSK’s team reshuffle follows a setback from their previous game. Allrounder Ramakrishna Ghosh picked up an injury, forcing the management to restructure the XI significantly.
Playing XIs
Delhi Capitals: 1 KL Rahul, 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Karun Nair, 4 Tristan Stubbs, 5 Nitish Rana, 6 Axar Patel, 7 Ashutosh Sharma, 8 Lungi Ngidi, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 T Natarajan
DC’s Impact Player bench: Vipraj, Rizvi, Porel, Auqib, Miller
Chennai Super Kings: 1 Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Urvil Patel, Kartik Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Jamie Overton, Akeal Hosein, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Chowdhary, Gurjapneet Singh
CSK’s Impact Player bench: Dube, Veer, Short, Madhwal, Sarfaraz
