Match 4 of this year’s Indian Premier League brings us a clash between the Delhi Capitals and the Lucknow Super Giants at the Dr YSR ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam, on 24th March 2025.
Indian Premier League 2025 | Match 4: Delhi Capitals vs Lucknow Super Giants | 19:30 IST, March 24th
It is a clash full of subplots. Ex-Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant will face his former franchise for the first time, and that too as a captain. Whereas in a twist of fate, Lucknow will also be taking on an old player of their own in KL Rahul, who now represents DC.
Having failed to make the playoffs in each of their last three seasons, DC used the mega auction to refresh and re tool, with a new-look side in action this year. Star all-rounder Axar Patel has been named the new skipper with veteran Faf du Plessis appointed as the vice-captain to help Axar bed in smoothly into his new role.
The Capitals have also improved their bowling line-up with key additions like Mitchell Starc and T Natarajan. Starc played a big role during the playoff stages for the Kolkata Knight Riders last season while Natarajan was the lead death specialist for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Add to it the likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Mukesh Kumar, this is a formidable bowling line-up.
The Lucknow Super Giants, on the other hand, used quite a different approach during the mega auction. They packed their batting order with quality batters like Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant, Nicholas Pooran, and David Miller, however, the lower power-hitting could be a concern if both Ayush Badoni and Shahbaz Ahmed fail to deliver.
That being said, their biggest concern at present is their injury-riddled bowling attack. For the first game of this season, LSG will be without the services of Mayank Yadav, Akash Deep, Avesh Khan and Mohsin Khan, which is a massive concern. Lucknow’s fragile bowling attack alone tips the scale heavily in the Delhi Capitals’ favour.
Looking at the two matches played at this venue last year, on both occasions, the team batting first won the game with both seamers and spinners taking wickets. But with the teams batting first posting totals like 191 and 272, it’s safe to say that batters will find a lot of joy if they apply themselves correctly.
Both DC and LSG have played each other five times in the competition with the Super Giants leading the head-to-head battle 3-2.
Fantasy XI: Abishek Porel, Nicholas Pooran (c), KL Rahul (vc), Rishabh Pant, Aiden Markram, Faf du Plessis, Axar Patel, Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan, T Natarajan
Venue: Dr YSR ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam
Winners Prediction: Delhi Capitals
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