[1]With their Numero Uno spot in the IPL-5 points table being taken away by Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Daredevils will look to grab it back when they take on Deccan Chargers at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium here on Thursday.
Chargers, who are way behind in the race to seal a place in the play-offs, will have to play a fearless brand of cricket to ensure that they keep the Devils at bay.
Their in-form players — Shikhar Dhawan, Kumar Sangakkara and Cameron White — have their task cut out against a Delhi attack that will not offer an inch of comfort. The hosts will have very little margin for error when they bowl to orange-cap holder Virender Sehwag.
The Delhi skipper has been in supreme touch, single-handedly taking care of his side's fortunes by amassing 468 runs in 11 innings in the competition.
If that was not enough, Viru also has the services of big bats — David Warner, Mahela Jayawardene and Ross Taylor — at his disposal in order to rocket the team's total. So, it becomes mandatory for the former champions to see off the big guns early; else they will be left chasing leather throughout.
The visitors also possess Irfan Pathan in their armoury, who has tasted success in his dual role as a bowler-cum-batsman. The left-hander has not only taken wickets, but also struck some meaty blows coming down the order.
The Devils are blessed with an all-round bowling attack comprising Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron and Shahbaz Nadeem.
Morkel (20 wickets from 11 games) and Nadeem (8 from 11 innings) have been tough to negotiate, and the two will aim to keep things tight against the Chargers.
Expect a cracker of a contest with both sides not willing to give much breathing space for the other.
Key player : Deccan Chargers Cameron White
The burly Australian has 345 runs from 9 games in the season, and is certainly looking hungrier for many more.
He started slowly but has blossomed as the tournament progressed. White will want to add colours to the Chargers' batting when they take on Delhi on Thursday.
Key player : Delhi Daredevils Virender Sehwag
The Delhi dasher has been a man on a mission. Having scored at a blistering strike-rate of 166.54 in IPL-5, Sehwag has been the chief architect in designing Daredevils’ path in this competition. Viru will leave no stone unturned in targeting the boundary ropes right from the word go.
Quote unquote: T.A Sekar (Delhi Mentor)
On the game against Deccan Chargers: T20 is such a funny game that we will not take any side lightly. It’s anyone’s game.
On the target for the Devils: We need a minimum of 17 points to qualify for the play-offs. There are four more games to go for us after the one against the Chargers. We will look to play with a lot of intensity.
On what went wrong in the loss against Kolkata Knight Riders: If we had scored about 170, the match would have been interesting. We did come back strongly into the game, but were about 20 runs short.
On the wicket in Hyderabad: It appears hard, and looks like a good batting wicket. It might get slower for teams that are batting second.
On missing the services of Kevin Pietersen: Well, we do have David Warner, and he is no less. KP did a great job for us and the century that he hit against Deccan Chargers at the Feroze Shah Kotla Stadium was one of the best that I have seen in Twenty20 cricket.
On Daredevils’ bowling attack: We have three bowlers — Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron — who can bowl at over 140kph. We also possess slow-ball bowlers such as Shahbaz Nadeem and Pawan Negi in our side. We have a versatile bowling attack.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/war1jpgcropdisplayjpg-425