After losing their opening match in horrendous fashion, Delhi Daredevils have turned their season around. They have put in six impressive performances, winning five of them and losing one by a run. They have been led admirably by captain Zaheer Khan, whose creative field settings, mentorship and positivity have yielded rich dividends. That is to say nothing of his own bowling, which has been mostly spot on. As young batsmen like Karun Nair and Rishabh Pant find form, the team increasingly looks to have most bases covered.

The opposite is the case for Rising Pune Supergiants, who will make the trip to Feroz Shah Kotla for Thursday’s encounter. Supergiants’ campaign got off to a bright start, with a win over Mumbai Indians, but has rapidly gone off the rails and is now something of a shambles.

The bowling has been a weak link, with the pacers leaking runs and the lead spinner, R Ashwin, struggling to make an impact. The batting looked strong, but with the injuries to three of their five leading run-scorers – Kevin Pietersen, Faf du Plessis and Steven Smith – they have a massive hole to fill in that department as well. Having lost six of their eight matches so far, Supergiants are on the verge of entering do-or-die territory.

Meanwhile, it is worth keeping one eye on the battle of the captains. Zaheer had served as the leader of the pace attack for India under MS Dhoni. Now, for the first time, he has the chance to pit his captaincy wiles against his former captain. An innovative bowling leader – experienced, yet new to the job – will lock horns with a veteran who has led many a title-winning team.

It is difficult to look past Zaheer Khan at the moment. He has combined figures of 4 for 48 in 7.3 overs in the last two matches, with his guile and penetration supplementing his returns. His captaincy seems to have rubbed off on his team. One feels that as long as Zaheer can continue to fire as bowler and as captain, Daredevils can continue to be greater than the sum of their parts.

In a team bereft of fast bowling options, Thisara Perera will have an increasingly important role to play. He has bowled well in patches, including towards the end, and his 13-ball 34 against Royal Challengers Bangalore displayed his usefulness with the bat. Supergiants need him to combine these facets consistently and become the go-to bowling allrounder they desperately yearn for.

After an impressive all-round bowling performance that set up a clinical eight-wicket win, Daredevils have little reason to change their XI.

Squads:

Delhi Daredevils (probable): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Rishabh Pant, 3 Sanju Samson, 4 Karun Nair, 5 Sam Billings, 6 JP Duminy, 7 Chris Morris, 8 Amit Mishra, 9 Mohammad Shami, 10 Zaheer Khan (capt), 11 Shahbaz Nadeem

Usman Khawaja and George Bailey have joined the Supergiants set-up and are available for selection. Given Smith’s injury and Peter Handscomb’s unconvincing innings against Mumbai Indians, they might both slot into the playing XI.

Rising Pune Supergiants (probable): 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Saurabh Tiwary, 4 George Bailey, 5 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 6 Thisara Perera, 7 Rajat Bhatia, 8 Scott Boland, 9 R Ashwin, 10 M Ashwin, 11 Ashok Dinda