KXIP vs DD Match Prediction: Who will win the match between Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils, IPL 2016, Match 36

The Kings XI Punjab will clash with the Delhi Daredevils in the 36th match of the VIVO IPL 2016 at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali. The campaigns of both teams have gone in completely opposite direction so far. While the Daredevils have been playing some great cricket to occupy the 3rd spot in the points table, the Kings have remained rooted to the bottom of the table for quite a while now.

Nothing seems to be working for the Punjab side at the moment. Even though the bowlers have been doing a decent job for them, the batting has surely let them down. The team recently had a change of captain with Murali Vijay taking over from the underperforming David Miller and have won one match and lost one ever since.

DD, on the other hand, have easily been among the best sides in the 2016 IPL. Their batsmen have performed quite decently till now but it is the bowlers who have been the real heroes for them in this season. Zaheer Khan had been appointed their skipper a few days prior to the start of the 2016 IPL and he has combined brilliantly with head coach Rahul Dravid to take the team to new heights.

The match between these two teams has different implications for either of them. The Kings XI Punjab will be desperate to win today just to keep themselves alive in the tournament whereas the Delhi Daredevils will be looking to get back on track after conceding their last game to a struggling Rising Pune Supergiants.

It is likely that we will witness a good match with both teams pushing each other to the limits.

Venue: Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali

Match date: 7 May 2016

Match timings: 20:00 IST, 14:30 GMT

If Kings XI Punjab bat first

Predicted Score: 150 and above

Skipper Murali Vijay has been Punjab's best batsman in the tournament so far with 204 runs in 8 innings. Apart from the right-hander, none of the other batsmen has made much of an impact. Glenn Maxwell has scored 2 fifties but has not been consistent at all whereas former captain Miller has looked all at sea for his 120 runs in the season.

Young batsman Manan Vohra has performed reasonably well for the Kings with 161 runs in 7 matches. One of their key performers in recent times, Wriddhiman Saha, has also failed to come good for them with the bat. All-rounder Marcus Stoinis, who has been opening the batting with Vijay, has not been too impressive.

Kings XI Punjab are missing out on the services of Shaun Marsh, who got injured midway through the tournament. The batsmen will need to do much better than this if the team wants to push for a spot in the playoffs.

The bowling attack has been doing a much better job compared to the men wielding the bat for KXIP. Mohit Sharma has been the pick of the bowlers with 10 wickets in his kitty. Axar Patel has also bowled quite well and has managed to grab 8 wickets, which include a hat-trick in a match against table-toppers Gujarat Lions.

Pacer Sandeep Sharma has been brilliant with 7 wickets thus far and a miserly economy rate of 6.55 runs per over. The problem with the bowling has been that none of the other bowlers apart from these three has caused much trouble for the opposition batsmen.

Following their loss in the previous match against KKR, Vijay may be forced to make some changes in the line-up for the game against DD. We may see South African batsman Hashim Amla make his IPL debut in the match.

If Delhi Daredevils bat first

Predicted score: 160 and above

The batsmen have been in decent touch for the Delhi Daredevils this season. Their opener Quinton de Kock scored the first century of the 2016 IPL and has 245 runs in 7 innings till now. Youngsters like Karun Nair and Sanju Samson have played crucial roles in the DD batting line-up and have delivered whenever the team needs them.

Rishabh Pant, who plays for the Indian Under-19 team, was provided the opportunity to open the innings and he grabbed it with both hands by scoring a match-winning 69. Sam Billings, the young English wicket-keeper batsman, made a sparkling debut against KKR with a hard-hitting fifty and also played a cameo in Delhi's previous match. JP Duminy has lent a great deal of solidity to the middle order as well.

The hero of the 2016 World Twenty20 final, Carlos Brathwaite, has been adding some quick runs down the order and boasts of an incredible strike rate of 260.86. All-rounder Chris Morris, who did not play the last game, has also showed some fine form with the bat during his blistering 82 not out off 32 deliveries against GL.

Talking about the DD bowling, leg-spinner Amit Mishra has been the most successful one with 10 wickets in the tournament. Mishra's spin bowling partner, Imran Tahir, has also done a fine job with as many as 5 wickets from just 3 games. Skipper Zaheer Khan has also been among the wickets with 7 of them so far.

Morris has impressed with the ball for the Daredevils as he has taken 6 wickets and has conceded his runs at less than 7 per over. The only major concern in terms of the bowlers has been the form of Mohammed Shami, who has been way too expensive and has not managed to pick wickets regularly.

There may not be too many changes in the Delhi Daredevils line-up for the match against Kings XI Punjab apart from Zaheer returning to the team after not playing the last game.

Probable Winners: Delhi Daredevils.