What

The Delhi Daredevils go head to head with the Kolkata Knight Riders in Match 28 of Pepsi IPL 2014. Since winning their final match of the UAE leg against the Mumbai Indians, the Delhi Daredevils have dropped home matches against the Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings most recently.

The Kolkata Knight Riders have now lost four matches in a row since their two-run win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The batting department, which hadn’t largely fired, came good in their previous match against the Rajasthan Royals, so much so that KKR were cruising in their chase of 161. However, the match turned on its head when KKR slumped from 121 for no loss to 123 for six to hand the advantage to the opponents, and eventually finishing 11 runs short of their target.

When

Wednesday, May 7, 2014, 4 pm IST

Where

Ferozeshah Kotla, Delhi

The Protagonists

The Delhi Daredevils opening pair of Quinton de Kock and Murali Vijay has almost set the foundation for the team every time they have walked out to bat together this season. However, what they have not done is convert those starts into big scores; de Kock is yet to post a half-century in four innings, while Vijay has one 50-plus score from seven innings. It is important for either of them – preferably both – to convert the starts into big scores. Among others, JP Duminy has delivered cameos in every outing.

Robin Uthappa played good knocks against the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. Uthappa has done what is expected of set top-order batsmen – bat into the second half of the innings; in the match against CSK, he was dismissed in the 14th over, while he was dismissed in the 15th over against RR. He together with skipper Gautam Gambhir, who has two good hits in the last three innings, hold the key for KKR. Among the bowlers, one does not have to look beyond Sunil Narine.

Notes from Previous Match

Delhi Daredevils v Chennai Super Kings: Though Quinton de Kock and Murali Vijay got DD off to a sound start, they would have made note that the pair played out 16 dot balls in the first four overs. The move to promote Laxmi Ratan Shukla ahead of proven performers like JP Duminy and Kedar Jadhav too backfired. On the bowling front, the form of Mohammed Shami should definitely pose a worry; the pacer has bowled his complete quota of overs in each one of the seven matches, yet has only picked up four wickets, and has conceded runs at a rate of 8.71.

Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals: KKR’s lesson from their previous match was that set batsmen needed to stay on to finish the job. Despite cruising in their chase of 171, KKR collapsed spectacularly – losing six wickets for three runs – and not surprisingly ended up on the wrong side of the result. Coaches are often heard preaching, “Finish the job” and “Do not leave the job to the others”. KKR learnt the repercussions of set batsmen not finishing the job the hard way.

Previous Meetings

Honours are evenly shared between the Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders from 12 prior contests. In the 2013 season of Pepsi IPL, both teams held their respective home matches.

Trivia

Delhi Daredevils’ record at the Ferozeshah Kotla: Matches – 40, Won – 16, Lost – 22, No Result – 2.

In seven matches this season, the Delhi Daredevils are yet to win a coin toss.

382 sixes have been hit in 38 IPL matches at the Ferozeshah Kotla.

What Next

The next fixture lined up for the Delhi Daredevils is at home against Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 10. Kolkata Knight Riders, meanwhile, travel to Cuttack for their away match against Kings XI Punjab scheduled for May 11.

Courtesy: IPL