New Delhi: Already out of contention for the Indian Premier League (IPL) play-offs, bottom-placed Delhi Daredevils will attempt to end the season on a bright note when they face fellow strugglers Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Ferozshah Kotla here on Saturday.
RCB are currently second from bottom in the points table after managing to win just three of their ten outings so far and need to win each of their remaining four games to stand any remote chance of qualifying for the play-offs.
On the other hand, Delhi’s hopes of qualifying were dashed on Thursday by table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad, who chased down a challenging 188 losing the solitary wicket of opener Alex Hales at the Ferozshah Kotla.
Young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, whose maiden IPL century went in vain against the Hyderabad side, has been the lone shining light for the Daredevils this season.
On Saturday, Delhi will once again hope to entertain the fans with fireworks from the southpaw’s blade while skipper Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw and Jason Roy, who missed the party last night, will be keen to make amends.
Pacer Harshal Patel, who was promoted up the order showed great maturity in resurrecting Delhi’s innings with Pant but it will be interesting to see if head coach Ricky Ponting still wants to pursue with misfiring Glenn Maxwell, whose dismal run in the tournament have been a headache for the side.
With nothing to lose, Delhi are expected to test their bench. In such a scenario, the likes of Manjot Kalra, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Sayan Ghosh and Junior Dala may get a look-in.
Delhi’s bowling was massacred on a flat Kotla wicket by the Sunrisers duo of Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson and will be hoping for a better effort from the likes of Trent Boult and Co.
Meanwhile, it will be a homecoming for RCB skipper Virat Kohli, who has been in good nick this season and would want to maintain his side’s superior record over Delhi in head-to-head encounters. RCB have so far won 12 games against Delhi’s seven in IPL history.
Besides Kohli, the onus of piling up a sizeable score will be on South African stars AB de Villiers and Quinton de Kock, New Zealander Colin de Grandhomme with stumper Parthiv Patel and Mandeep Singh also quite capable of making rapid runs.
Bangalore’s bowling department will be headed by pacemen Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee while leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and offie Washington Sundar can be handy options in the middle overs.
Catch the match
Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders, 2.30pm
Royal Challengers Bangalore v Delhi Daredevils, 6.30pm
Matches broadcast live on BeIn Sports 13 HD
