Sixteen days after their game in Dharamsala was abandoned before the completion of the first innings, Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Delhi Capitals (DC) will meet again at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, here on Saturday.

A lot has changed since that fateful night in the mountain town. The Kings have already sealed their spot in the Playoffs for the first time in 11 years after a win against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) here.

The Shreyas Iyer-led team has been heavily reliant on its top order this season, with uncapped opener Prabhsimran Singh leading the run-scoring charts with 458 runs. The performance of the middle order against RR, led by Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh, augurs well as the side pushes for a top-two finish.

Pacer Arshdeep Singh has been the side’s leading wicket-taker this season with 16 scalps. The lanky left-arm seamer will hope to brush off a rare off-day in the previous game, where he conceded 60 runs in his wicketless four-over spell.

Gujarat Titans’ loss at the hands of Lucknow Super Giants on Thursday means PBKS can seal a spot in Qualifier 1 with wins in its remaining two matches.

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The mood is much more sombre in the Capitals’ dressing room after a 59-run drubbing at the hands of the Mumbai Indians extinguished the team’s hopes of qualification.

The team missed the services of pace spearhead Mitchell Starc, who has not made it back after the league’s restart, especially at the death. DC conceded 62 runs in the final four overs, including 48 in the last two, which eventually helped the opponent gain the upper hand in the contest.

The Achilles heel of this campaign, however, has been the side’s batting. DC has the third-worst batting average this year (27.13), and KL Rahul (508) has been the only batter to aggregate more than 350 runs. The wicket-keeper batter has four 50-plus scores this season, just one shy of all his teammates combined.

Vipraj Nigam (179.74 strike rate) and Ashutosh Sharma (160.62) have contributed some quick runs through the campaign, but with the top order unable to set up the innings for the duo, the cameos have rarely translated to wins.

The team will hope skipper Axar Patel will be available after a bout of flu as it looks to finish another below-par campaign with a win.