Delhi Daredevils and Pune Warriors are locked in the match of bottomers. Both have showed all talent to stick to the bottom. Their last match of IPL 4 may also not be the contest for winning, but may see all efforts from both teams to stick to the bottom. Who will be the unlucky to leave the bottom today!!
History
In the first match at Mumbai, Delhi Daredevils somehow managed to defeat Pune Warriors by 3 wickets. Despite being the best bowler and batsman of the match and later termed as Player of the Match, Yuvraj Singh could not single-handedly win the match as while his other players did not perform, DD batsmen joined hands to chase 188 in the last over.
2011 Performances
Delhi Daredevils had their own problem. First Mumbai Indians sent them to school by blowing them away with Malinga Special that led DD score their second below 100 score in IPL. When it appeared against Royals they will have some clue, Warne’s boys also scored clinical thumping victory. Being at bottom, when hopes were about to shatter completely, Daredevils registered emphatic victory over tournament topper Pune Warriors India. But against Deccan Chargers, they played an ordinary game and lost due to poor bowling. But against the rampant Kings XI, DD won the high-scoring match. But, when they were expected to surge ahead, they lost the see-saw battle against RCB. They lost another close battle against KKR when their batsmen succumbed in the low chase. They thumped Kochi Tuskers when they met few days before. But they came back strongly against DC and Sehwag’s century saw them winning the match. Against MI they failed in the high chase. But in the last two matches, CSK did inevitable and Kings XI thumped them.
Pune Warriors had a good start and lost momentum later with 5 losses on trot now. Both matches they won batting second, but lost third match in high scoring game when they had to defend. In the first match they defeated Kings XI by 7-wickets, while in 2nd match defeated Kochi Tuskers by 4-wickets. But, against Delhi Daredevils at home, their bowlers failed to defend the high total. Mumbai Indians forced them into submission with bowling. In the last match, the batsmen failed to chase a low total against CSK. In the back-to-back match against CSK, they failed to defend almost the same target. Against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the last match, except Yuvi, the bowlers and batsmen succumbed. Against Rajasthan Royals the batsmen failed to impress, and Warriors lost 6th game on a trot. Losing back-to-back matches against Mumbai Indians, they lost 7th game on a trot. Yuvraj’s Mohali helped them finally win another match against Kings XI. They won Away match against DC, but lost Home match to them. In their last match, KKR easily inflicted defeat on them.
Player’s Performances
For Delhi, player’s performance index is weak in the absence of Sehwag. Venugopal and Warner have joined 300-club, while Hopes, Irfan Pathan, Nagar and Naman Ojha have entered 100-run club. Like DC, they have 7 players scoring above 100-runs, but the team has never played together. Their bowlers have been one of the worst taking only 60 wickets in 13 matches.
Pune Warrior’s player performance index is not so high-profile. Yuvraj is the only one in 300-club. Ryder, Manish Pandey and Uthappa are in 200-plus club. Mithun is in 100-club. Rahul Sharma’s exceptional bowling has helped them earn 68 wickets in 13 matches, but batting is failing to back-up.
Who Will Win!
Pune Warriors appear stronger and DD deserve to finish at the bottom. Both team give the feeling as if they want to run away of this edition. Both have talents that have contributed exceptionally in taking their teams to bottom. Still, in the absence of Sehwag, who had the Orange cap when he left the tournment and other costliest player Irfan Pathan, just playing for himself, Warriors must perform exceptionally bad to keep their team stick to bottom.
Key Battles
Warner/Venugopal vs Warrior Trio
The opening duo of Delhi Daredevils is feaersome. But they have not clicked together as match winner. Warrior trio of Thomas, Bagh and Parnell have hunted in group so far and share 10 wickets among themselves in 2 matches. Yet, when it comes to the class of Sehwag and aggression of Warner, that might be too much for the trio to handle. The battle will decide the fate of the match too.
Yuvraj vs Delhi Bowlers
Delhi bowlers have been the worst. Yuvraj on the other hand is the only shining star of his team. Even in last match against Delhi, he bowled, batted and fielded DD out of the match, but his other team members let DD win. He must be baffled what more to do to win. May be Ganguly can reduce his pressure and he can hit a century against further weakened DD.
DD Squad
Batsman: Sehwag, Aaron Finch, Colin Ingram, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Naman Ojha (WK),
Allrounder: James Hopes (Captain), Travis Birt, Robert Frylinck, Irfan Pathan, Venugopal Rao,
Bowlers: Morne Morkel, Andrew McDonald, Roelof van der Merwe, Ajit Agarkar, Varun Aaron, Robin Bist, Unmukt Chand, Ajit Chandila, Ashok Dinda, Shahbaz Nadeem, Yogesh Nagar, Prashant Naik, Rajesh Pawar, Aavishkar Salvi, Sridharan Sriram, Vikas Mishra, Tejashwi Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Vivek Yadav
Warriors Squad
Batsman: Yuvraj Singh (Captain), Mitchell Marsh, Callum Ferguson, Tim Paine (WK), Graeme Smith, Manish Pandey, Eklavya Dwivedi, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Harshad Khadiwale, Mohnish Mishra, Robin Uthappa (WK), Ganguly
Allrounder: Nathan McCullum, Angelo Mathews, Jesse Ryder, Mithun Manhas
Bowlers: Wayne Parnell, Jerome Taylor, Alfonso Thomas, Ashish Nehra, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Kamran Khan, Murali Kartik, Ganesh Gaikwad, Harpreet Singh, Dheeraj Jadhav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shrikant Mundhe, Sachin Rana, Rahul Sharma, Shrikant Wagh
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