IPL 10, Match 9, RPS v DD, Preview: Struggling Delhi Daredevils take on inconsistent Supergiant

The Delhi Daredevils made a mockery of the run chase at hands against the Royal Challengers Bangalore at Bengaluru. They had a meagre total to chase on a small boundary venue but failed to get over the line. This can largely be accredited to the fact that their inexperienced batting order failed to absorb pressure on the day. Barring Rishabh Pant, no other batsman could show any resilience at the crease.

Now they are up against a side that has a history of losing the momentum. They will be playing the Rising Pune Supergiant at Pune in another away game. For the RPS, they registered their first ever win at the venue this season against the Mumbai Indians. Playing at home might give some confidence to RPS but Delhi will fancy their chances against the inconsistent Supergiant.

The injury concerns still persist for the Zaheer Khan-led team. However, that seems to be affecting only their batting order. In the bowling department, they are spoilt for choices. On the contrary, RPS are yet to find a bowling unit that looks settled by any sorts. Their batting do not seem to be a worry for them with some big names in the top order.

Focus will be on

Rishabh Pant

Delhi Daredevils batsman Rishabh Pant was the stand out performer for the team in their loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Pant hit a brilliant 57 off 36 balls that almost won the match for his team. He took the team to the last over in the run chase despite having seen wickets tumble in a flurry from one end. The bereaved batsman overcame his gried of the demise of his father to join the Daredevils camp ahead of the match. He will have a lot of eyes glued to him for the fact that he has been in supreme form this season.

Rahul Chahar

Young leg spinner Rahul Chahar surprised quite a few people with his inclusion in the playing eleven for the Rising Pune Supergiant in the match against the Kings XI Punjab. The 17 year old Rajasthan leggie was quite impressive on debut and is a renowned bowler in domestic circuit. Having him in the line up helps the team to accomodate an extra batsman in the side as an overseas player. In case he does not play, the team are left with no choice but to pick up Adam Zampa – a very potent bowler – but an overseas position occupier.

Dan Christian

Dan Christian was a hot property in the Indian Premier League when he was first bought in the IPL auctions way back during the early editions by the Deccan Chargers. With time, his fortunes dwindled and so did his IPL career. Now, he is back to the tournament with the RPS roster. He showed glimpses of what he is capable of doing in the match against KXIP where he hit a couple of handy boundaries towards the end. He also had an impressive Big Bash League this year where he was one of the top performers.

Team Combination – Rising Pune Supergiant

The Rising Pune Supergiant are likely to go in with the same team that played for them in match against Kings XI Punjab. They ended up on the losing side but the balance of the side looked just about right on paper. They might consider replacing the out of form batsman Mayank Agarwal in the opening slot considering his string of low scores. Barring Agarwal, the top order looks good with Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith and Manoj Tiwary all getting good runs.

Overseas signing Ben Stokes was phenomenal in the previous game for his maiden IPL fifty. Also, the camp is very pleased with the rich dividends leggie Imran Tahir has yielded for them. The pace department looks the weak link for now. They might get tempted to play someone like Shardul Thakur in place of Ashoke Dinda. Dinda has been largely unimpressive in the first two matches of the season.

Team Combination – Delhi Daredevils

Shreyas Iyer is still not fit and will be out of the fixture because of chicken pox. The Delhi top order boasts of all youngsters. However, the younger brigade showed very little application on the day against RCB. Sam Billings and Aditya Tare can be a very explosive opening pair. They will be followed by the likes Sanju Samson and Karun Nair. In form batsman Rishabh Pant will be the key player to watch out for as he comes in at number 5.

Two hard hitting all-rounders in Chris Morris and Carlos Brathwaite follow in the line up. The bowling unit is the strongest in the season if seen on paper and it will be worth watching if they click yet again against the Supergiant. Spinner Shahbaz Nadeem will be the key player to hold the bowling fort in the middle overs. Skipper Zaheer Khan was spot on with his bowling changes during the initial phase in the match but could not control the run flow in the last couple of overs.

Rising Pune Supergiant Probable XI:

Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Saurabh Tiwary, MS Dhoni, Dan Christian, Rajat Bhatia, Rahul Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir.

Delhi Daredevils Probable XI:

Sam Billings, Aditya Tare, Sanju Samson, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant, Chris Morris, Carlos Brathwaite, Shahbaz Nadeem, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Pat Cummins.

StatAttack:

5 – Delhi lost their first match of all the last 5 editions of the IPL.

9 – The bowling average of Adam Zampa in IPL 2016 was 9.58 – the best in the tournament.

7 – Number of times RPS batted first last year. They lost on all 7 occasions.