The 33rd game of the 2011 edition of the Indian Premier League will see the Delhi Daredevils host the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
Both sides are coming off losses in the previous game and will be particularly disappointed at the manner in which they have bowled in that game.
Delhi v Kolkata odds:
Delhi (11/10 at
BetFred) have won only two of their six games which relegates them to the last but one position in the points table. Another loss and they can almost bid their chances of making it to the final four stage, a goodbye. They hadn’t defended 160 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the previous game.
The Kolkata Knight Riders (11/13 at
Bwin) went down to the same opponents – Bangalore – despite scoring 171 and much of it was because of a poor selection strategy and poorer bowling. For some reason, Brett Lee was left out and the rest of the pace bowlers proved to be easy meat for Chris Gayle.
Gautam Gambhir used to play for the Daredevils till the last season before being let go. Gambhir and Sehwag have been the best of mates, having opened the innings for their club side, the Ranji trophy state side, the national side and till the last year, even the IPL. Watching them play against each other would be an exciting proposition.
Ground and Pitch:
Two games have been played on this particular track which had much more grass than one would find on any other pitch in the country. However, after a high-scoring first game, it did become a tad more difficult to bat on it in the second game and if the game does get played on it again, trust 160 to be a match-winning total.
Player News:
The Delhi Daredevils did a fair job with the bat last time around but the middle-order needs an injection of freshness. The management went in with Matthew Wade (8/1 at
Boylesports) for the previous game but one senses that in terms of pedigree, Colin Ingram (5/1 at
Blue Square) could be a much better choice.
That aside, the Daredevils could also look at the position of Irfan Pathan (14/1 at
Boylesports) in the side. The cannot-bat, cannot-bowl, cannot-field jibe against him may be a tad unfair but the bottomline is that he has done nothing to justify his selection so far. The big question is whether the Daredevils have the bench-strength to replace him.
The Kolkata Knight Riders will look to their batsmen at the top of the innings to give them a start. Gautam Gambhir (7/2 at
bet365) and Jacques Kallis (11/4 at
bet365) have both been a tad patchier than their lofty standards and they will look to correct that. Brad Haddin (4/1 at
Boylesports) may need to make way for Brett Lee, which should also give Manvinder Bisla (5/1 at
Boylesports) a chance to regain his spot at the top of the innings.
The other option is a Lee-Eoin Morgan (8/1 at
Boylesports) swap that should allow Haddin to remain in the playing eleven.
Prediction:
Kolkata have a far more balanced side between the two and should go in as favourites.
