Vulnerable Daredevils meet would-be party-poopers

Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Start time: 2000 local (1430 GMT)

Having lost three of their last five matches, Delhi Daredevils are wobbling at a bad time. That one of them came against Mumbai Indians, a rival in the race for playoff berths, will add to their jitters as they approach their final three league games. Sunday's events showed the Daredevils batting line-up is still raw and their hitherto reliable spinners can also lose the plot. Inconsistent team selection hasn't helped, though injuries to key players like Zaheer Khan have forced their hand. Two more wins should seal their progress; there can't be many better incentives to revert to their best XI and rediscover their early-season gumption.

Rising Pune Supergiants, on the other hand, have very little riding on them. They were the first team to crash out of the playoff race, and can only hope to be party-poopers now. That could mean anything from left-field selections and out-of-the-box tactics to fearless cricket and uncluttered minds. All that brings a certain unpredictability, for which Daredevils must be prepared.

But MS Dhoni may want more than just being a spoiler. As captain of Chennai Super Kings in previous seasons, he never failed to make it to the top four. Now he finds his side languishing at the bottom of the points table. Dhoni would be desperate to get off last place by the end of the season.

Rising Pune Supergiants LLLWL (last five matches, most recent first)
Delhi Daredevils LWLLW

The ever-smiling George Bailey finally struck some form with a 27-ball 33 against Knight Riders. That followed a more laboured 34 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Visakhapatnam. If Bailey can get more runs - and faster - he could be part of the solution to Supergiants' muddle in the middle.

Quinton de Kock has had two rough decisions in his last two matches and each of them brought a good knock to a premature end. Beneath his shy exterior is a fiercely determined young man. Combine that with a rich vein of form and a bit of fire in the belly, and the results might well be spectacular. Again.

With Supergiants' situation in the tournament, predicting their XI is a mug's game. Nevertheless, their options for tinkering are somewhat limited, and the core of their side is likely to remain unchanged.

Rising Pune Supergiants (probable): 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Saurabh Tiwary, 4 George Bailey, 5 Thisara Perera, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Irfan Pathan/Rajat Bhatia, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Adam Zampa, 10 Ashok Dinda 11 RP Singh/Ishant Sharma/Ishwar Pandey

Questions remain over de Kock's opening partner. Neither Mayank Agarwal nor Shreyas Iyer has impressed. It is anyone's guess whom Daredevils will go with this time. In the bowling department, Imran Tahir and Shahbaz Nadeem could make way for Carlos Brathwaite and Pawan Negi, which would shore up the lower-order batting.

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

Sunday's match in Visakhapatnam produced a batting beauty, which Mumbai exploited to post a 200-plus total. Previous matches at the venue, on different strips, had batting collapses. There is, consequently, some uncertainty as to how the pitch will behave for Tuesday's match. The weather is set to be overcast, with possible thundershowers.