Deccan Gladiators vs Delhi Bulls Predictions: Abu Dhabi T10 League 15th Match Preview

Monday’s last match will be against the third team of Group B and the second team of Group A, aka the Deccan Gladiators versus the Delhi Bulls. While the Gladiators will rue a decent opportunity to get a win against the undefeated Qalandars, the Bulls will be regretting their own opportunity to have a record akin to the Qalandars with a loss against the Northern Warriors. Coming into the Super League, both teams will want to get off to a strong start, because with only 3 games involved, there’s really not much margin for error. Before the two sides lock horns, let’s take a closer look at them.

Deccan Gladiators

Predicted XI

Kieron Pollard (c), Sunil Narine, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Zahoor Khan, Ravi Rampaul, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Imran Tahir, Cameron Delport, Imtiaz Ahmed, Azam Khan, Aaron Summers.

Preview and form

The Gladiators could well have ended up in second place in their group had they not made a meal of their chase against the Qalandars. Bowling first, relatively economical spells and a wicket each from Ravi Rampaul and Zahoor Khan made sure the Qalandars were limited to just 118. However, despite a reasonably good start to the chase with Mohammad Shahzad’s 27 and Cameron Delport’s 19, no other batsman could cross the 10 mark, and wickets were lost at regular intervals. When the dust settled, the Gladiators had lost by 33 runs to end up just above the Pune Devils by virtue of net run rate.

Key players

Kieron Pollard: The big guy has been dismal so far this tournament, and needs to shake off his rust and punch at his weight.

Cameron Delport: Had he managed to stay for a while more, they may have been able to bag their last match. Maybe he will in future matches.

Zahoor Khan: The Emirati has been excellent for the Gladiators so far, and needs to keep his performance up.

Imran Tahir: This Proteas powerhouse hasn’t been up to his usual mark, but he certainly doesn’t look unlikely to make a comeback.

Delhi Bulls

Predicted XI

Dwayne Bravo (c), Waqas Maqsood, Shiraz Ahmed, Ali Khan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Evin Lewis, Adam Lyth, Mohammad Nabi, Waqar Salamkheil, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Bopara, Sherfane Rutherford.

Preview and form

When giants bleed, it may not feel good for them, but it sure makes the competition a lot more interesting. After two easy wins, it looked as though the Bulls were the Qalandars of Group A, but when they came up against the Northern Warriors, it was as though they hit a brick wall. Bowling first, Waqas Maqsood was done dirty after bowling a stupefyingly good spell with figures of 2-1-1-1, because other than Shiraz Ahmed, no one else could keep their economy rate below 16, and the Bulls were given a formidable 137 to chase down. While doing so, the Bulls kept losing wickets every now and then, and with Ravi Bopara’s 36 being the only decent score to speak of, they lost the match by a comprehensible 32 runs.

Key players

Rahmanullah Gurbaz: Despite a couple of poor performances, Gurbaz remains the best raw talent in the Bulls.

Ravi Bopara: The underrated Englishman has been pretty solid, but needs to do even better.

Waqas Maqsood: After a performance like that, we can’t wait to see how he does in the future.

Shiraz Ahmed: This T10 specialist knows how to bowl in the format, and is an important cog in the Bulls machine.

Deccan Gladiators versus Delhi Bulls weather conditions and pitch report

For those of you who haven’t read our previews for today’s previous matches, all you need to know is that the conditions will be perfect for cricket barring the minor factor of the breeze being on the strong side.

The pitch at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, as we have already seen, is pretty balanced for spinners, pacers, and batsmen, but also hardly relevant given the nature of the format.

Can the Gladiators be the kings of the sand? Or will the Bulls’ charge be successful? Find out if our Deccan Gladiators versus Delhi Bulls predictions come true on Monday!