Two big wins in as many games, on the back of its often underestimated young batting line-up, has given Delhi Daredevils hopes of propelling itself into the top-half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) table this season.
There is still a long way to go for that to happen, but DD, for once, seems to have its fortunes in its own hands. A win in all its four remaining games here on should be enough to push it through. But for that, DD has to continue with the kind of form it has struck in recent games. The toughest trial would be on Saturday when it takes on table-topper Mumbai Indians hoping to make it a hat-trick of wins on home ground.
For that, the host will need an encore from Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson, and support from the rest of the cast including the so-far misfiring stand-in skipper Karun Nair. Shreyas Iyer, Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma's teammate on the domestic circuit, will need to up his game as well. The good thing about Delhi's batting is that while Pant and Samson on Thursday exhibited how dangerous they can be when they get going, the rest, too, are all capable of making handy contributions that, together, can overhaul any target — like they did chasing 186 against SRH.
Delhi will also take heart from the fact that its bowlers, despite being smashed in the middle, bounced back to restrict the rampaging Gujarat Lions towards the end of the innings.
Mumbai, meanwhile, has been the team to beat this season. With eight wins from 10 games, the former champion, already qualified for the playoffs, has made it clear that there will be no slacking off.
SRH V RPS , 4 p.m.
DD V MI , 8 p.m.
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- Delhi Dardevils: Zaheer Khan(c), Angelo Mathews, Corey Anderson, Kagiso Rabada, Pat Cummins, Ankit Bawne, Aditya Tare, Murugan Ashwin, Navdeep Saini, Shashank Singh, Mohammed Shami, Shahbaz Nadeem, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Chris Morris, Carlos Brathwaite, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant, Chama Milind, Khaleel Ahmed, Pratyush Singh, Marlon Samuels.
- Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Lendl Simmons, Mitchel Johnsohn, Mitchell McClenghan, Nitish Rana, Parthiv Patel, Saurabh Tiwary, Shreyas Gopal, Tim Southee, Lasith Malinga, Krunal Pandya, Keiron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Asela Gunaratne, Harbhajan Singh, Hardik Pandya, Jagdish Suchith, Jaspreet Bumrah, Jos Buttler, Karn Sharma and Vinay Kumar.
