Mohali will take on two time semi-finalists Delhi in the third game of the Indian T20 series on Saturday.

Mohali, playing at home and under a new captain can count on the enthusiastic local support against Gautam Gambhir’s side.

Kumar Sangakkara, who has taken over from Yuvraj Singh as skipper of Mohali, will however face some stiff challenges. He is unlikely to avail the services of Aussie opener and the inaugural season’s top-scorer, Shaun Marsh.

Despite Marsh’s injury, Mohali boast of a solid batting line-up with the likes of Sangakkara, Yuvraj Sinhj, Mahela Jayawardene and Simon Katich. The bowling, even in the possible absence of Brett Lee and Yusuf Abdullah, should be penetrative enough. Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth and Piyush Chawla are no mean commodities.

Delhi, on the other hand, have a surfeit of raw talent. The batting will once again revolve around the dangerous Virender Sehwag and skipper Gambhir. Tillakaratne Dilshan and AB deVilliers have done wonders for the side over the last two years.

It is the bowling that should be Delhi’s core area of strength in the third edition of the Indian T20 series. Led by Dirk Nannes and young South African sensation Wayne Parnell, the other seven teams in the competition have a lot to worry about. Thrown in Amit Mishra and Daniel Vettori into the mix and that serves a potent combination of pace and spin, necessary for a successful T20 side.

Both teams will be keen to get off to a good start but the onus will be on Mohali, who have the advantage of playing their first game of the tournament at home.

Punjab vs Delhi - Head to Head
 
Played: 4

Won by Punjab: 3

Won by Delhi: 1

Winning % Punjab: 75.00

Winning % Delhi: 25.00

Approaching milestones:
 
- Abraham de Villiers (560) needs 40 runs to become the third player for Delhi to complete 600 runs or more in the Indian T20 series. The two leading batsmen are: Gautam Gambhir (820) and Virender Sehwag (604)
 
- Dinesh Karthik and Adam Gilchrist, with 25 dismissals each, are the leading wicket-takers. In case of just one dismissal, Karthik would become the leading wicket-taker.