IPL 6: Match 32 - DD vs KXIP- Delhi Daredevils Preview

We are into the 21st day of the Indian Premier League and the Delhi Daredevils are going into their eighth match of the season against Kings XI Punjab today evening at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium, Delhi. Needless to mention, Mahela Jayawardene’s team had been on a bitter journey in this year’s IPL until their last match against the Mumbai Indians, which they won convincingly. More than a win, which eventually came in the seventh game after loosing their first six games in a row, the Delhi Daredevils managed to stamp their authority and show the world what they are actually capable of.

They are up against a formidable Punjab side who are fresh off a thumping win over Pune Warriors in their last game, thanks to a stunning partnership between David Miller and Mandeep Singh. But with Delhi’s V-factor(Virender Sehwag), who batted like James Bond in the previous match and scored a match winning 95, returning to his best, it will be a tough task for the Punjab bowlers to control the flow of runs at the top.

When Sehwagstorm is making all the headlines, we shouldn’t forget what Mahela Jayawardene is capable of, with his magical, Midas touch gradually coming back. He showed us glimpses of that when he quietly managed to sneak out a classical half century in the last game, which also was a huge contributing factor in their win. With a batsman like David Warner coming in at three, Punjab’s bowling, which looked quite jittery in the previous games, needs to be at its best to make some inroads into the Delhi batting line up. Punjab have the likes of Piyush Chawla, Parvinder Awana and Manpreet Gony in their line up, who can dismantle any batting line up on their day.

Regarding Delhi’s bowling. Irfan Pathan can prove to be quite a handful with his change of pace. Umesh Yadav is showing some glimpses of returning to form with his 9 scalps in the seven games so far. But Delhi choosing to play Rudolph van der Merwe, with a stalwart like Morne Morkel sitting out in the last game, turned out be quite a selection as the spinner provided the early breakthrough they needed in the game. He also is likely to be included today considering Kings XI skipper Adam Gilchrist’s vulnerability to spin. Ajit Agarkar and Andre Russell proved to be expensive in the last game and we might see a change today, with at least one of them sitting out. However, Russell holds a distinct advantage over the others with his hard hitting capabilities. Shahbaz Nadeem is also set to boost the spin department along with van der Merwe.

Sir Viv Richards taking over the advisory role of Delhi Daredevils can prove to be the X-factor in reviving their fortunes in the tournament. Delhi now have to win almost every game to stand a chance of making it to the play-offs, having lost six matches of the seven they played till now.

Conditions:

The Feroz Shah Kotla pitch is traditionally slow and low. But seeing the way it has played in the last game, it can favor the team batting second as it settles down quite well in the second innings. The ball may stop and come in the first innings and can pose some problems to the team batting first. Bowlers like Nadeem and van der Merwe can definitely extract some spin out of it.

Head to Head:

Well, according to head to head records, its even stevens between the two sides with Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils winning 5 each out of the 10 games they played against each other in all the 5 editions of IPL till now.

Key Players:

Virender Sehwag- Most teams tend to fear this devastating right-hander when he is at his blistering best. Same may be the case with Kings XI. If he manages to stay at the crease for at least 10 overs, it might be all over for the Punjab side. He will open the batting with skipper Mahela Jayawardene.

Mahela Jayawardene- This stylish batsman showed us some glimpses of his magical batting in the last game. He will be opening along with Sehwag, and if he gets going, there is no better batsman to watch than him at present in world cricket. His gritty captaincy also can be a huge impact factor on the game.

DD’s strategy:

With the pitch playing slow in the first innings, they should look to bowl first if they win the toss. This will provide an opportunity to their slow bowlers like van der Merwe and Nadeem to make full use of the slowness of the pitch. If they manage to restrict Punjab to a reasonable total, their formidable batting can easily chase it down with Sehwag, Mahela and Warner at the top.

Possible XI:

They are likely to go with an unchanged side into this match, especially after their thumping win in the last game. However, Agarkar and Russell may have to sit out considering their performances in the last game.

Virender Sehwag, Mahela Jayawardene(c), David Warner, Venugopal Rao, Kedar Jadhav(wk), Rudolph van der Merwe, Irfan Pathan, Andre Russell/Morne Morkel, Ajit Agarkar/Ashish Nehra, Shahbaz Nadeem and Umesh Yadav.