The Delhi Daredevils will look to get off to a winning start at their home - the Feroz Shah Kotla - when they entertain the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2014 on Saturday.
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The game on Saturday is scheduled for an 8 pm IST (6.30 pm local time, 3.30 pm GMT, 10.30 am ET) start with live coverage on Sony Six and Sony Max in India. Catch the action via live streaming in India HERE or HERE. Rest of the world audience can catch the IPL action HERE, HERE or through the GoCricket apps. Viewers in the US can live stream the action HERE, while audience in Canada can do the same HERE.
Viewers in the UK can catch the action live on ITV, while Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will have TV coverage via Geo Super, Maasaranga TV and Carlton Sports Network respectively. Viewers in the Middle East and North Africa can catch the action on OSN and with the link HERE, while New Zealand viewers can do the same through Sky NZ HERE.
The Daredevils had an OK time of it in the UAE, winning two of their five matches, without really lighting up the tournament. The return of Kevin Pietersen has improved the side considerably, with the DD skipper leading his side to a comfortable win over the Mumbai Indians in their last game in the desert.
The Kotla has always been an imposing venue for the opposition, and DD will be keen to make it as impenetrable a fortress as possible this season. "When it is your home ground, you try and win as many matches as you can at it," Daredevils vice-captain Dinesh Karthik said. "Even in the auction, you try and pick a team you feel has the best chances of winning you matches.
"But having said that, these days you need to pick teams, which are all-round, which can do well in matches, both home and away. Now that we have the home advantage, we should try to do as well as we can with the crowd support.
"We expect to see some good crowd and some good support and we are looking to play some good cricket out here."
Courtesy a nerve-wracking Super Over victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders, the Royals made sure they came back to India with a winning record of 3-2, and with the Rajasthan franchise not playing in Jaipur, their fortress for so many IPLs, this season they will be keen to pick up as many away wins as possible.
"Obviously, the team will benefit from my experience of playing at Kotla," RR bowler Rajat Bhatia, who has played for Delhi in the domestic circuit, said. "All teams will now realise that all the matches will be played in India. So all teams need to adapt quickly and do their homework.
"I don't know what kind of wicket it will be. The wicket has been covered so far. Our job is to adapt to the wicket and try and do well."
Having lost three matches already, DD will be aware of the importance of going on a little winning run to get up there with the table-toppers, and a convincing victory over the Rajasthan Royals could be the tonic needed to do just that.
"It is a crucial phase of the tournament, if we can win a few games from here on and get some momentum going, that would be really good for us," Karthik added. "In the whole of IPL, it goes up and down. We are really looking forward to a good one week."
