The Delhi Daredevils (DD) will take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Chhattisgarh International Cricket Stadium, Raipur on Wednesday's second match. It is the 44th game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013 and their second meeting this season.
Overview:
Both the teams are in the bottom half of the table. They played against each other in the opening match of this season which the defending champions, KKR won. DD will be looking forward to take revenge at their adopted venue, Raipur.
DD are placed in the eighth position, earning just four points from nine games played so far. They beat Mumbai Indians after losing six consecutive matches. Then they conceded defeat to Kings XI Punjab before defeating Pune Warriors India in the previous. They will be keen to win the remaining games to stay in the competition.
KKR lifted the title last year but their performance this season has been disappointing, earning just six points after winning three of the nine games played so far. They are placed just above DD on the table. They lost to Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in the previous match. They will be keen to start winning, as they have good chance of making it to the last four if they win the remaining games.
Previous Meetings:
The teams have met 10 times in the past and KKR won six while DD won four. The defending champions won in their earlier meeting this season.
Team News:
Delhi Daredevils: David Warner, who scored a quick half century in the previous match, is the only consistent performer for the team. Skipper Mahela Jayawardena, Virender Sehwag, Roelof Van Der Merwe, Manprit Juneja and others need to step up and contribute to the team's total.
Umesh Yadav and Irfan Pathan took two wickets apiece in the previous match while Morne Morkel, Ashish Nehra and Shahbaz Nadeem turned out to be expensive. They defended a total of 164 but they will be expected to perform better in the upcoming matches.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Opener Manvinder Bisla scored 92 from 61 balls, and Eoin Morgan scored 32 in the previous against CSK but that was not enough to win. Skipper Gautam Gambhir's performance this season has been impressive but he failed with his bat in the last two matches. Jacques Kallis' form has been inconsistent and Brendon McCullum has not performed yet. They need to pull up their socks and start performing.
On the bowling front, they have Sunil Narine, Jacques Kallis, Brett Lee, Rajat Bhatia, Sachithra Senanayake and Lakshmipathy Balaji but they took only two wickets in the previous match, letting CSK put up 200 on the board.
Prediction:
The match between DD and KKR is expected to be a tight one. DD won the only game played at their adopted venue Raipur this season. They are the favourites to win on Wednesday.
SQUADS:
Delhi Daredevils: Mahela Jayawardene (c), Ajit Agarkar, Andre Russell, Arisht Singhvi, Ashish Nehra, CM Gautam, David Warner, Gulam Bodi, Irfan Pathan, Jeevan Mendis, Johan Botha, Kedar Jadhav, Manpreet Juneja, Morne Morkel, Naman Ojha, Pawan Negi, Roelof Van Der Merwe, Royston Dias, Siddarth Kaul, Sujit Nayak, Shahbaz Nadeem, Umesh Yadav, Unmukt Chand, Venugopal Rao, Virender Sehwag, Yogesh Nagar
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (c), Brendon McCullum, Brett Lee, Debabrata Das, Eoin Morgan, Iqbal Abdulla, Jacques Kallis, James Pattinson, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Manoj Tiwary, Manvinder Bisla, Shami Ahmed, Pradeep Sangwan, Rajat Bhatia, Ryan McLaren, Ryan ten Doeschate, Sachithra Senanayake, Sarabjit Ladda, Shakib Al Hassan, Sunil Narine, Yusuf Pathan
Where to Watch Live
The match will begin at 8:00 pm IST and will be telecast live on Sony Set Max channel.
