In a game that is bound to raise nothing more than some academic interest, the Delhi Daredevils will play the Pune Warriors India at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. This is the 68th game of the Indian Premier League this season.
Delhi v Pune odds:
Both the sides are struggling at the bottom of the points table with eight points apiece, essentially meaning that they are playing to avoid ending at the bottom of the pile. A win here for either will end their tournament at either the ninth spot, or, if the Chargers lose their last game, will push the winner of this game to number eight.
Delhi go into the game with an offer of 1/1 (
Paddy Power) for a win, while
BetFred offers 10/11 if Pune win.
Ground and Pitch:
The games at Kotla have usually been low-scoring except when the new pitch was unveiled and there was a fair amount of grass being kept. This one may not be much to write home about, especially given that there is no interest left in the competition.
Player News:
The Daredevils will miss the presence of Virender Sehwag at the top of the order as their new set of opening batsmen struggle to make a move. There is a good chance that the side may look to try out Travis Birt or Aaron Finch at the top of the order while hoping that Venugopal Rao gets back into his own.
Irfan Pathan’s continuing return to form makes for a strong case to promote him up the order – bat him at the number three or four position even.
The Pune Warriors have lost two in a row, thanks mainly to their perennial problem in this tournament – the batting. While it did not really collapse as badly against the Kolkata Knight Riders, as the previous games, there was no acceleration found throughout the innings, and the side ended on 118.
It is a surprise that the entire season has elapsed and Yuvraj Singh has not promoted himself to the top of the order – number three or four – instead allowing others to go early. Robin Uthappa seems to be a better bet if sent in the last five or six overs while Sourav Ganguly could probably be sent up as the opener with Manish Pandey.
Prediction:
Too difficult to call but if the game gets played on a slower surface, the Pune Warriors may have a chance of batting better than they have so far.