Match 38 May 2nd DD vs KTK Highlights IPL4
Chances even on a better Kotla wicket
Delhi Daredevils and Kochi Tuskers Kerala are the 2nd pair of teams playing back to back games. DD who have won the last game on batting brilliance of Sehwag will face KTK Team which is down with two big defeats against rival team today and Deccan Chargers. With fans choosing not to visit the stadium for both the teams, it will be even more important for both the teams to reunite their fan base with a win. Apart from not having much local players in both teams, their poor performance has also been the cause of fans’ dismay.
Sehwag top scorer for Delhi Daredevils with 323 runs has played the role of Match winner more convincingly than that of captain this season. Though Warner 2nd highest run getter along with Sehwag have often given good starts, its only when they carried foreword to longer innings Delhi has shown tendency to win. This excessive dependency on Delhi openers has cost them this situation where they have to win this game to avoid a situation of Do-or-Die. Sehwag has lead by example especially in later half of Delhi’s games. An innings of 80 on pitch which can barely be called a T20 one was nothing short of a classic preceded by 77 (36) against Kings XI. It remains to be seen if Delhi batsman will inspire themselves to play following he last game. Barring Venu Gopal Rao other batsman down the order have been in a terrible form with Finch, Naman Ojha and Nagar falling short of anything than can be called good contribution. Birt replacement for Finch has worked a bit with 20 (13) in last game and they will hope it will continue to be. James Hopes has helped the batting in couple of matches and Delhi would be take that back from him.
Kochi Tuskers Kerala who are also dependent of opening pair of Jayawardene and Mcullum have Ravindra Jadeja in Middle order finishing or racing the scoreboard in initial games. With last 3 games that Kochi have played being the bowlers paradise, Kochi batsman would like to revive themselves on a a currently better Kotla wicket. Hodge though initially helpful along Klinger and Parthiv Patel would have to buck up if they wish to see a better result. A replacement for Klinger might be possible with Sri Lankan team mate of Mahela coming in. Past few games by the time it came to Jadeja’s hands to finish the game the asking rate was above 12 and he has no one with him to finish the business. Hodge especially who has been getting out cheaply will be careful today to finish it off or race it up with Jadeja,
Pitch: A new wicket made for today’s game is said to be exactly similar to the one made for DD vs KXIP game. It will have pace and movement for seamers but will still be a good wicket to bat on. The slowing down of the wicket in the next game vs KKR was attributed to the searing Delhi heat and the new pitch will not face that problem.
Its going to be interesting to see how consistent Morne Morkel and Sreesanth who has been very good in last few games will extract the movement from this pitch. Vinay Kumar and RP Singh show more promise than Irfan Pathan and Umesh Yadav (might be playing on Delhi wicket) but have to face the in-form Delhi openers intelligently. Its not going to be easy for young Delhi bowlers too if Captain Jayawardene and Mcullum start to attack on their day. Agarker also bowled good for Delhi last innings but that was on pitch that helped bowlers and remains to be seen if he follow it up with something similar. Murali who would play the Delhi game will like to the deceive the Delhi batsman with his turn. It may not be surprising to see to bowl early.
A good pitch and both teams being in lower half of the table and desperate to win set up a base for Great game. Lets sit-back and enjoy this encounter.
Some Interesting Statistics and Highlights of Kochi Tuskers Vs Delhi last game
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