New Delhi: Boosted by the six wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Delhi Daredevils will aim to carry on the good work when they take on Gujarat Lions in an Indian Premier League (IPL) contest at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Delhi rode on a collective batting effort to overhaul Hyderabad’s stiff target of 186, and rise to the sixth spot in the league table, keeping alive their dreams of reaching the play-offs.
Gujarat, on the other hand, are back from two close defeats to find themselves in the penultimate spot in the eight-team standings.
Going into Thursday’s tie, Delhi will once again hope for a good start by the top order, comprising the likes of Sanju Samson, Karun Nair, Shreyas Iyer and Risabh Pant.
Delhi finally got to a decent opening start on Tuesday, thanks to Samson’s (19-ball 24) and Nair’s (20-ball 39) before Iyer and Pant also managed to cross the 30-run mark.
The middle order boasts of the big-hitting all-rounder duo of Chris Morris and Corey Anderson, who stitched together a 41-run unbeaten stand for the fifth wicket to take Delhi home with five balls to spare against Hyderabad.
Among the bowlers, pacer Mohammed Shami stood out with his immaculate line and length and was well assisted by the senior leg-spinner Amit Mishra. Off-spinner Jayant Yadav and Morris also bowled decently but South African pace sensation Kagiso Rabada endured an off day in office, leaking 59 runs from his four overs.
Meanwhile, Gujarat will hope for a turnaround in their fortunes after two close finishes against Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants. While the match against Mumbai needed a super over to decide the winner, Pune rode on Ben Stokes’ fiery century to deny the Lions a win.
Gujarat’s top order boasts of some of the world’s best T20 players in Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch, Dwayner Smith and Suresh Raina, who can tear apart any top bowling attack on their day. Youngster Ishan Kishan has impressed everyone with his power-hitting at the top.
The middle order comprising the likes of wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik and all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and James Faulkner can use the long handle in the slog overs if needed.
The Lions will only be hoping for some luck going their way in the bowling department, which has lost sting after the injury of Andrew Tye.
The all-Indian pace battery of Basil Thampi, Pradeep Sangwan, Ankit Soni, Nathu Singh, Irfan Pathan and Praveen Kumar have failed to click as a unit in the tournament while Jadeja also is due in the wickets column.
— IANS
