In what is seemingly an inconsequential encounter, Delhi Daredevils will collide with Deccan Chargers in the fifth season of the Indian Premier League on Thursday.
Delhi Daredevils are virtually assured of a place in the playoffs with eight wins from 11 matches. They, however, suffered a rare defeat in their last match against Kolkata Knight Riders with the defeat causing them to lose their top spot on the points table.
A win against a struggling [[Deccan Chargers] will take them back to the top. For the Daredevils, they will need to quickly address the absence of Kevin Pietersen with the English batsman having flown back home. Ross Taylor, largely expected to fill the shoes, has found the going tough so far. David Warner made a decent start to his IPL and will be looking to have a stronger impact against a weak Deccan bowling line up.
The bowlers have usually performed as a collective unit with Morne Morkel leading the wickets pack.
For the Deccan Chargers, their remaining matches are just a formality having been ruled out of contention for the playoffs. With only two wins from 13 matches, their season has been a story of disappointment and struggle that refuses to cease.
They lost against Kings XI Punjab by 21 runs, falling short of a relatively challenging target. The bowlers once again had issues containing the flow of runs barring Rusty Theron’s four economical overs.
Captain Kumar Sangakkara has also looked out of answers with his usually-dependable weapon Dale Steyn bowling a shocking over that cost him the place. The batsmen have also not had given much to write about with the exception of Shikhar Dhawan and Cameron White, both of whom fell early in the run chase.
Deccan Chargers are the hosts for the match but it remains to be seen how crowds fill in given the team has already been eliminated.
Where this game becomes consequential is that Delhi will hope to win it to ensure they finish in the top two. There is a distinct advantage of finishing in those positions and the Daredevils can almost seal that spot by winning a couple more of the games here.