Daredevils face Lions again after thriller

Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)

In an IPL that has, at various points, been bereft of excitement due to the slew of one-sided finishes, and predictable because of the number of successful chases, Delhi Daredevils' performances have been refreshing.

After racking up a grand total of 10 wins across the last three seasons, 2016 has been a welcome change for Daredevils. With four wins from six matches, they are placed third and have the opportunity to climb further on Tuesday against Gujarat Lions, who suffered a 23-run loss against laggards Kings XI Punjab.

Zaheer Khan's astute leadership has been central to Daredevils' success, as have the performances of their foreign contingent. Chris Morris has been their most impressive foreign buy. His effective end-overs bowling, and fearsome ball-striking, of the kind he displayed in an unbeaten 32-ball 82 in a narrow loss for Daredevils the last time both sides met, makes him an important part of the line-up.

Daredevils, however, have struggled to get an opening partnership going despite having tried three different combinations. Shreyas Iyer is under pressure to retain his place, having scored just 22 runs in five innings.

There aren't too many batting concerns for Gujarat Lions, even though the loss to Kings XI would serve as a wake-up call. But not all was doom and gloom in Rajkot. Shivil Kaushik, the chinaman bowler, put behind a disappointing debut to finish with figures of 3 for 20, which included the wickets of Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell and M Vijay.

Gujarat Lions LWWWL (last five matches, most recent first)
Delhi Daredevils WLWWW

Dwayne Smith came in only after an injury forced Aaron Finch out of the side and has grabbed his opportunities. With 163 runs in four matches at a strike rate of 153.77, he has been as effective as Brendon McCullum at the top of the order for Gujarat Lions.

But for a 60 against Mumbai Indians, Sanju Samson has had a lean tournament (133 runs in six innings). A flat Rajkot deck could just be what he needs to rediscover his touch.

Finch's fitness is being closely monitored. At a training session on the eve of the game, he was the first to pad up and had a long net session, facing throw-downs before practising against Pravin Tambe and a few net bowlers. Finch batted and ran between the wickets without any apparent discomfort. If he is picked, James Faulkner may have to make way. McCullum and Smith are likely to open, which means Dinesh Karthik may have to move down to slot Finch in at No. 4.

Gujarat Lions (probable): 1 Dwayne Smith, 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Aaron Finch/James Faulkner, 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Ishan Kishan, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Shivil Kaushik

Daredevils may not want to tinker with the XI that beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 27 runs in their previous match. It's not clear if JP Duminy, who missed the previous game because of an illness, has recovered. With Sam Billings, his replacement, having scored a 34-ball 54 on IPL debut, Daredevils may have to make a tough choice. Iyer's struggle for runs - he has three ducks this season - could pave way for Mayank Agarwal's inclusion.

Delhi Daredevils (probable): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Shreyas Iyer/Mayank Agarwal, 3 Sanju Samson, 4 Karun Nair, 5 Sam Billings/JP Duminy, 6 Chris Morris, 7 Carlos Brathwaite, 8 Rishabh Pant, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Zaheer Khan (capt), 11 Amit Mishra

Though Sunday's match between Kings XI and Lions ended up being low scoring, surfaces in Rajkot are traditionally flat. So expect another run-fest. The players would welcome a night game.