The third game of the third edition of the Indian Premier League will see Delhi Daredevils travel to the PCA Stadium in Mohali to face the hosts, Kings XI Punjab.

Delhi have qualified for the semi-finals of both the previous tournaments, but have not entered the finals yet, while Punjab were the losing semi-finalists in 2008, but failed to qualify for the semi-finals in 2009.

The Kings XI Punjab (7/5 at Bwin to win the game) side was in a bit of a disarray when their captain Yuvraj Singh was replaced by Kumar Sangakkara, but the soothing presence of Tom Moody as the coach will help the side. Delhi, tipped at 4/6 (Ladbrokes) to win the game, on the other hand, also saw the captaincy change hands, but the process was quite smooth, and it went from Virender Sehwag to Gautam Gambhir – two of the best off-field friends in cricket today.

Speaking of the opening duo of Sehwag (7/2 at Ladbrokes) and Gambhir (7/2 at Boylesports, both, to top-score for Delhi), the Daredevils have been blessed with their presence in the side. The two complement each other well, run quickly between the wickets and as is a known fact, hit the boundaries almost at will. With Punjab missing Brett Lee, Yusuf Abdullah and Irfan Pathan will have a task on their hands to stop the rampaging duo.

But, the issues for the opposing bowlers, do not end here. Depending on which four foreign players Gambhir opts for, Punjab may be bowling to any of Dave Warner (4/1 at Sky Bet), AB de Villiers (5/1 at Stan James), Tillakaratne Dilshan (4/1 at Sky Bet) apart from Dinesh Karthik (13/2 at Stan James, all to end as the highest scorer for the side) in the middle order. Warner has had a reputation of smacking the ball into the stands and can play the longer innings with ease, while Dilshan is one of the best T20 players in business. De Villiers had only just recently smashed a couple of successive centuries and Karthik is a more than useful bat in the middle order, which will cause much heartaches for the opposition.

Punjab will be bolstered by the fact that Yuvraj Singh (4/1 at Boylesports to be Punjab’s best batsman) has declared himself fit for the first game after being out of the game for some time. Kumar Sangakkara’s (3/1 at Bet Fred to top-score for Punjab) latest woes have been more to do with his lack of concentration, but he should be a perfect batsman in the T20 format, given that he gets really good starts. Mohammad Kaif (6/1 at Sky Bet to top-score for Punjab) was a surprise selection, but now that he is in, he will look to rekindle his partnership with Yuvraj in the middle order.

Tips:
Favourites: Delhi Daredevils (4/6 at Ladbrokes)
Top Delhi batsman: Gautam Gambhir (7/2 at Boylesports)
Top Punjab batsman: Yuvraj Singh (4/1 at Boylesports)