plMumbai: A resurgent Delhi Daredevils, who have risen up the league table after an inconsistence show in the early phase, will look to build a winning momentum when they take on Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket match at the Brabourne Stadium here on Sunday.
Daredevils drubbed Kings XI Punjab by nine wickets by riding on a splendid bowling display by comeback pacer Zaheer Khan and the tall Nathan Coulter-Nile at home on Friday.
Rajasthan, on the other hand, slumped to their third loss in their last five games (including two rain wash out matches) with a eight-run defeat against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium last night.
Fortunes seemed to have shifted on the positive side for Delhi, who are now at fourth position with their fourth win from eight games, after arresting their nine-match losing streak in the tournament history at the Feroz Shah Kotla against Mumbai on April 23.
They bounced back in style on Friday to demolish KXIP after suffering a humiliating nine-wicket loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore in the previous away game on April 29.
Key batsmen in Mumbai-born lad Shreyas Iyer (281 runs) and Karnataka Ranji cricketer Mayank Agarwal (202 runs) showed good nick with individual half centuries while opening the innings against KXIP to ensure that their brilliant bowling display did not go waste.
Fast bowlers Nathan Coulter-Nile (4 wickets) and Zaheer (2 wickets), who played his firsst competitive game in any format after a year’s absence, had laid the platform for the convincing win by restricting the strong Punjab batting line-up at a mere 118 for eight.
With skipper Jean-Paul Duminy also in good nick with the bat (220 runs) and with his accurate off-spin bowling (8 wickets), the Daredevils have most bases covered though there is a worry over the lack of runs from Yuvraj Singh (124 runs in 7 innings).
The leg spin twins of Amit Mishra (8 wickets) and South African Imran Tahir (13 wickets) may provide the Daredevils with the cutting edge if the track at the Cricket Club of India, Rajasthan’s second home venue of the season after Ahmedabad, offers some turn.
PTI
