It is the 16th game of the Indian Premier League as the Pune Warriors take on the Delhi Daredevils to be played at the Dr DY Patil in Navi Mumbai. This is a home game for the Warriors.
Pune v Delhi odds:
With the losses for Rajasthan and Mumbai Indians, the Pune Warriors (4/6 at
SkyBet) remain the only side to have not lost a single game so far. They have won two in two and a win here will mean that the side will make it three wins in a row in this edition of the IPL. On the other hand, the Delhi Daredevils (6/5 at
Stan James) are at the other end of the spectrum; they have two losses in a row and another one here will mean that they could just face an early exit from the tournament.
Ground and Pitch:
The game will be played at Dr DY Patil, one of the few venues in the country which assist pace bowlers and their brand of bowling. In the second game of the tournament here, there was a definite case of the pitch having slowed here but in general, there will be decent carry for the fast bowlers.
Player News:
Pune Warriors have had a good start to the tournament alright, but they had a couple of players injured in an on-field collision. Of them, Graeme Smith (7/2 at
SkyBet) came out batting with a runner and without too many days to recover between games, there is a chance that he could get replaced at the top of the innings. The chances, in that case, are that Callum Ferguson or Manish Pandey (5/1 at
Coral) could take his place in the side.
Yuvraj Singh (9/1 at
bet365) has not had a very long time at the crease and will look to correct that, probably even promote himself to the number three position if required.
Delhi need a Virender Sehwag-special. Sehwag’s (3/1 at
SkyBet) form has tapered off since the century he had hit at the start of the World Cup but was papered over by the Indian team’s win in the tournament. Now, with Delhi having made a start as poor as this, there is a good chance of the Delhi captain coming under the pump if he cannot get those quick runs at the top of the order.
He could probably take a cue from the books of Dave Warner (7/2 at
SkyBet) and Venugopal Rao (8/1 at
SkyBet), both of whom had a good previous game.
Prediction:
Pune should go into the game as favourites, but Delhi will not capitulate as badly as they have done before. Morne Morkel (4/1 at
Stan James) could end up being the most economical bowler in the game.
