Delhi Capitals vs Gujarat Lions, 23rd Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Two teams trying to knock Kolkata Knight Riders off the top spot face off tonight in what promises to be an interesting clash. The Delhi Daredevils will look to make the Feroz Shah Kotla their fortress with spin. After losing their first game, they have made quite a comeback to win their next three.

The new franchise Gujarat Lions, on the other hand, are flying high. They won four out of five and are joint-top. Countering the likes of Amit Mishra and Imran Tahir on this track will prove to be a challenge though for their stroke makers.

Is Aaron Finch fit though? If yes, then where does he bat? Will Dwayne Smith, who gave them an excellent start last game be asked to bat lower down the order? And what about Delhi? Will we see Carlos Brathwaite again or will the home side stick to their winning combination? Plenty of questions will be answered in a while.

This is also a contest between two men who played together for Rajasthan Royals. Brad Hodge has taken up a coaching role for the very first time now in his career and has praised Delhi Daredevils mentor Rahul Dravid by calling him 'his role model and mentor'.

Who is going to be outwitted tonight?

Daredevils are back in this! Amazing how the game can change! Raina has himself to blame here, when will he ever learn to play the short ball? Zaheer was spot on with his field placing as he knew he had a chance to exploit Raina's weakness. Morris executed the plan to perfection. Jadeja is in at number 5.

We are going by the trend, says Zaheer Khan as the Daredevils opt to bowl. They have made a couple of changes, Shreyas Iyer and Mohammad Shami are left out and are replaced by the Under-19 sensation Rishabh Pant and left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem. Aaron Finch is out of the game and is replaced by James Faulkner. Ishan Kishan gets a game too.

Teams:

Gujarat Lions (Playing XI): Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Ishan Kishan, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pravin Tambe

Delhi Daredevils (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Karun Nair, Jean-Paul Duminy, Pawan Negi, Chris Morris, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan(c), Shahbaz Nadeem, Imran Tahir

What a start! McCullum and Smith have done this before over the years for Chennai Super Kings and now they have pulled it off again for Gujarat Lions. The 50 is up in just four overs! Daredevils badly need a wicket.

The same pair put on 72 in the powerplay in their previous game and now they have made one run less. This has been absolute carnage but you got to feel for the Daredevils. They put in some plans in place and it almost came off. Both these batsmen could have been in the pavilion by now but they have rode on that little luck. Can Mishra and Tahir arrest the slide?