The Delhi Daredevils (DD) will take on the mighty Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in their third game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015. KXIP will look to continue the winning momentum at home turf whereas DD will be raring to register their first win of the tournament.
DD lost their first two matches off the very last ball. They needed six runs off the last ball against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Albie Morkel could only manage to hit the ball for a four. In the match against the Rajasthan Royals (RR), Angelo Mathews had 12 runs to defend. Tim Southee of RR was on strike on the last ball and he needed three from that delivery. Mathews bowled a full delivery which Southee crashed past the extra cover for a boundary.
"We got so close in the last couple of games, we could have won the CSK game and the last game as well. We got so close to the line but just couldn't hold on," Mathews said in an interview with the official website of IPL.
"It's still the start of the season, we can still turn it around and the boys are doing really good.
"We are going to try and bounce back and bounce back hard," added Mathews. DD does not hold a good record against the KXIP. It is going to be an uphill task for the Delhi boys. But it seems Mathews is confident about a positive performance and also feels that his teammates have learnt from their mistakes in the past.
"I think we have got the team and skill. We just have to go out there and be positive and not think negatively at all. We can only get better. If we get one win under our belt I am sure we can turn this around," said Mathews.
As DD are yet to find balance in their team, they are still working on the composition. But Mathews feels that the top seven batsmen should always be ready to go out and play positive cricket on the field. The batting order needs to be flexible as well.
"We have got players who can handle different situations, different conditions and different bowling attacks. You have to be flexible with your batting order, especially in T20 cricket, because you don't know what situation you may have to face and you have to send the best player to try and deal with the situation," exclaimed Mathews ahead of their match against KXIP on Wednesday.
