Daredevils have to fire

The Mumbai line-up will look to take on the attack

April 21, 2017 08:52 pm | Updated April 22, 2017 12:39 pm IST - MUMBAI

Delhi Daredevils batsmen Shreyas Iyer (right) with Sam Billings at a practice session at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai

Delhi Daredevils batsmen Shreyas Iyer (right) with Sam Billings at a practice session at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai

The Delhi Daredevils batsmen have not done justice to their talent this season of the IPL. Both of the team’s wins — against Rising Pune Supergiant and Kings XI Punjab — from its five matches so far were accomplished on the field by defending modest scores.

Against a Mumbai Indians in red-hot form on Saturday, the visitors will struggle to make an impact unless the batsmen pull their weight.

The exception among the Daredevils batsmen has been Sanju Samson. His confidence at the crease has resulted in a promotion from one-drop to opener, and the smooth-stroking batsman continues to compile runs effortlessly.

Led by Zaheer Khan, who will be familiar with the conditions at the Wankhede, the Daredevils bowlers will back experience and skill. Chris Morris heads the pack with 12 dismissals while Pat Cummings and the skipper have seven wickets each. With spinners Shahbaz Nadeem, Amit Mishra and Jayant Yadav also doing their bit against the big hitters, the attack has performed adequately well, only to see under-achieving batsmen dilute their efforts.

Mumbai’s batsmen will yet be a handful for this pack. The left-handed Nitish Rana is an inspiration for domestic batsmen looking to make an impression in the IPL. Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya and Parthiv Patel adapt to match situations so well that no chase can be deemed impossible.

Mumbai’s success is even more admirable considering the flickering form of its two impact players, Rohit Sharma and Lasith Malinga.

“Mumbai Indians have been on a roll, playing extremely good cricket. We certainly can beat them, we have the skill and firepower to do it,” said Daredevils all-rounder Angelo Mathews.

“All of the games we’ve lost this time, we were very close (to winning) but could not pull if off.”

“We don’t have too many superstars in our team, but we have a good set of players who can win games. That is what matters.”

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.