Dubai: Mumbai Indians' conquerers the Kolkata Knight Riders take on Delhi Daredevils, who lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore, in the second of two matches at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Satuday.
The match will be played under the Ring of Fire lighting system and is expected to provide a special experience for the players.
With both teams having batsmen with significant firepower, the contest is sure to be an exciting one.
JP Duminy and Ross Taylor of Delhi had displayed their wide repertoire of strokes in their match against Bangalore and so did the veteran Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey for Kolkata against Mumbai Indians.
Delhi are still hoping that their star batsman and skipper Kevin Pietersen will be fit to play this weekend.
When Laxmi Ratan Shukla, who talked to the media on behalf of Delhi Daredevils, was asked about the chances of their skipper playing, he said: “He is having this finger injury. A review is going on. I hope he will come back very soon. He is one of the best players in our team. We are all eager for him to play and we all are waiting for his return. He may or may not play. We are just hoping for the best.”
For Kolkata, who have one of the finest bowling attacks in the tournament, can be stopped only by a batting line-up that can rise to the challenge. In fact, skipper Gautam Gambhir is proud of his bowling attack and has stated that if his batsmen can post a good total, then his bowlers can easily defend it.
After their opening defeat, Delhi have conducted an inquiry and come up with the motivational message which Shukla revealed: “In Twenty 20, it should be less worry and play hard.”
In Twenty20 tournaments where momentum matters a lot, a defeat is often hard to overcome. Delhi are therefore intent on regaining their winning touch soon.
“It is a matter of just one good game. I hope we will win tomorrow against Kolkata. The first match we lost but we played some good cricket. We will come back strongly,” said Shukla.
The Kolkata batsmen trained hard to ensure a good total and make their bowling look even stronger. For Delhi, it is a match that they cannot afford to lose as two defeats in a row will be hard to overcome. Meanwhile, Kolkata will aim to prove that they are unbeatable. If Delhi can conquer, Kolkata it will also be a good news for other teams as any outfit with a winning momentum is always had to stop as they can also transform themselves into strong favourites to win the event.
