The third match of the Indian Premier League will see the clash of last season’s losing semi-finalists; the Delhi DareDevils and the Kings XI Punjab.
The DareDevils are not only favourites to win their first match, but also are the pre-tournament favourites – 9/2 by BoyleSport – to clinch the competition. On the other hand, Kings XI Punjab may find the going a tad stiff for them, given the lack of balance in their bowling line-up.
Stan James offers 4/5 for a DareDevils win, and it is not without reason. After being touted as a top batting-heavy line-up in the previous season – with the likes of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir opening the batting – the DareDevils selection committee has beefed up the entire line-up with some trusted personnel. Post the auctions, it almost seems like every position in the team has been buffered with a back-up, and the middle order looks stronger than before. Dave Warner’s selection was a master-move, as proved by his 43-ball 89 for Australia immediately after being picked for Delhi, while the Englishmen duo of Paul Collingwood and Owais Shah are value-for-money propositions at $150,000. The bowling looks stable without seeming too jazzy, and the return of Ashish Nehra from the Mumbai Indians should be a definite plus for Delhi.
Where the DareDevils may potentially struggle is their Indian bench-strength, which will constitute at least seven out of the 11 playing members.
Kings XI Punjab may not be tipped to favourites to win this one (5/4 by Sky Bet), the one aspect that does surprise me is that they are not even favourites to smash more sixes than the DareDevils. Bet365 offers 5/6 for Delhi to hit more ‘maximums’, where as they offer 13/10 for the Yuvraj Singh-led Punjab team. Personally I do feel that while Sehwag and Gambhir are better boundary-hitters than most, the six-smashing capabilities lie in the hands of Yuvi and the possibility of the latter coming out trumps in this battle looks higher.
The problem that the Kings face is with their bowling. Brett Lee is away touring with the national side, S. Sreesanth has been ruled out with an alarmingly long-lasting niggle, Jerome Taylor’s accident has ensured his absence and Irfan Pathan’s form with the cherry has been a suspect for some time. The only silver lining amidst all this melee is that South African medium pacer, Yusuf Abdullah has been selected and if his domestic record is anything to go by, he should be a player to watch. Contrast this with Delhi’s bowling line-up and two of the top three most economic bowlers of the tournament – McGrath and Vettori offered 9/1 – according to Stan James are from Delhi.
Yuvraj Singh will dearly want to correct this imbalance at the very start of the tournament, and it remains to be seen whether his batting prowess works well enough to assist him in doing so.
