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Delhi Daredevils v Deccan Chargers, IPL, Delhi
Delhi look to rediscover winning ways
S Rajesh
May 14, 2008
Match facts
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Start time 20.00 (local), 14.30 (GMT)
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Herschelle Gibbs is due a big score after five failures (file photo)
© AFP
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The Big Picture
The wheels seem to have fallen off for Delhi Daredevils, who lost four games in a row and languish in fifth place after being on top of the table less than two weeks ago. The good news for them, though, is the schedule: two of their next three games are against Deccan Chargers and Bangalore Royal Challengers, clearly the weakest teams in the tournament. Kolkata Knight Riders used their matches against these opponents to find their way back into the IPL, and it's now Delhi's turn to do the same and inject some momentum into their campaign again.
On current form it might appear that Deccan are already out of the tournament, but if they win the rest of their matches and other results go their way, they can still make a push for a semi-final spot. For that to happen, though, Deccan must significantly spruce up their act - they were woeful in the field during their previous match, against Kolkata. Their big stars have failed to get their act together too, but going by their track record so far, an away game gives them the best chance of success - they've won two out of five away matches, but lost all four at home.
One of those four defeats was a nine-wicket drubbing at the hands of Delhi when the two teams first met more than three weeks ago. On that occasion, only one Deccan batsman made more than 15; they'll need much better teamwork if they are to get a favourable result this time.
Tournament position
Delhi Daredevils: P9, W4, L5, NRR +0.291
Deccan Chargers: P9, W2, L7, NRR -0.352
IPL form (last five matches, most recent first)
Delhi Daredevils: LLLLW
Deccan Chargers: LLWLL
Watch out for ...
A flurry of strokes from Delhi's top order. They haven't fired in the last four games and are due a change of fortune.
Herschelle Gibbs - 46 runs in five innings are hardly the kind of stats that do him justice. If he gets a start, Delhi's bowlers will have their hands full
Gilchrist v McGrath and Asif. The contest was won by the bowlers in their previous encounter - Asif bowled Gilchrist for 8. Will Gilchrist turn the tables this time?
Team news
Delhi's top order has wobbled in the last few matches, and they might be tempted to bring in the all-round talent of Rajat Bhatia instead of one of the specialist bowlers, possibly Yo Mahesh. The rest of the line-up has a settled look to it, and it's only a matter of hoping that the big stars turn it on at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
Delhi Daredevils (probable): 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag (capt), 3 Shikhar Dhawan, 4 AB de Villiers (wk), 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Manoj Tiwary, 7 Rajat Bhatia, 8 Amit Mishra, 9 Farveez Maharoof, 10 Pradeep Sangwan, 11 Glenn McGrath.
Deccan dropped Shahid Afridi in the previous match, but Chaminda Vaas, his replacement, had a forgettable outing, leaking 36 in three overs. Afridi could return for this one, especially given the short boundaries at the Kotla.
Deccan Chargers (probable); 1 Adam Gilchrist (capt & wk), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Venugopal Rao, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 Ravi Teja, 6 Scott Styris, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Sanjay Bangar, 9 Pragyan Ojha, 10 RP Singh, 11 P Vijaykumar.
Stats and trivia
Adam Gilchrist and Rohit Sharma have contributed 45% of the total runs off the bat scored by Deccan.
The Deccan bowlers have struggled to contain batsmen in the last five overs, conceding 10.96 per over and 27.14 per wicket. Delhi concede 9.06, and average 17.90 runs per wicket.
Among bowlers who have bowled at least 20 overs in the tournament, Glenn McGrath is the only one to concede less than one run per ball.
Quotes
"It's time to look forward. Now we have nothing to lose but to win the remaining five games. If we can win all the next five matches, we can still change the calculations for the semis in our favour. That's what we are trying to do now."
Adam Gilchrist tries his best to stay positive despite the string of defeats.
S Rajesh is stats editor of Cricinfo
© Cricinfo
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