CENTURION: Here's a sneak preview of the first semifinal of the DLF Indian Premier League between Delhi Daredevils and Deccan Chargers here on Friday.
What's at stake: Simple, a place in the final and a crack at the DLF Indian Premier League crown on Sunday.
Form guide: Delhi Daredevils have been the side to beat in this competition. They have won 10 of the 14 league games. Deccan Chargers have been pretty up and down with their form and will have to hope that one of their big guns fires against the favourites.
Top guns: For Delhi Daredevils, the good news from Thursday evening is the return to form of both Gautam Gambhir and skipper Virender Sehwag but the key performers with the bat have been AB de Villiers (439 runs) and Tillekeratne Dilshan (353). Dinesh Karthik (279) is another who has been a reliable batsman. On the bowling front, the trio of left arm paceman has been awesome – Ashish Nehra (18), Dirk Nannes (15) and Pradeep Sangwan (15). They have been well supported by Amit Mishra (11) and Rajat Bhatia (10).
For Deccan Chargers, Adam Gilchrist (410 runs), Rohit Sharma (333) and Herschelle Gibbs (318) have been the key batsmen. Of course, Andrew Symonds, who joined the side recently and has played six games is another big player. Among the bowlers, RP Singh (20 wickets) and Pragyan Ojha (15) are vital cogs in the wheel but the side misses the thrust of Fidel Edwards but Rohit, Symonds and T Suman offer the captain choice.
Captain vs. captain: Virender Sehwag has awesome arsenal at his disposal, with the overseas players and the domestic cricketers contributing to make the team the most feared outfit in the event. As skipper, he seems to have so little to do on the field and that is a telling commentary of the quality of the players and their combination. Adam Gilchrist has led by example and has constantly motivate the side to perform to potential. He does not have as potent bowling attack as Sehwag has but he marshals his resources well.
Key battles: The contest between Delhi Daredevils new ball attack [Ashish Nehra and Dirk Nannes] against the Deecan Chargeers openers [Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs] can be one of the most interesting sub-plots as can the face-off between RP Singh and Delhi Daredevils skipper Virender Sehwag as well as Gautam Gambir who can force rival captains to scratch his head in search of a way to separate them.
What happened in the league games: Delhi Dardevils won on both occasions.
On April 30 at SuperSport Park in Centurion: Delhi Daredevils won by six wickets, thanks to a scintillating knock by Tillekeratne Dilshan and his partnership with Dinesh Karthik. Earlier, the dismissal of Adam Gilchrist and Gibbs in quick succession added to the woes of the Chargers. Dirk Nannes was the man of the match for bowling 14 dot balls and finishing with amazing figures of 4-0-16-2.
On May 14 at Kingsmead in Durban: Deccan Chargers allowed Delhi Daredevils to escape from jail and win by 12 runs. Rajat Bhatia pulled the rug from under Deccan Chargers' feet by claiming four for 14 in ten deliveries in the 18th and final overs of the match. Delhi Daredevils' other heroes were Dinesh Karthik with the bat and Pradeep Sangwan with the ball after Adam Gilchrist threatened to single-handedly win the game for Deccan Chargers.
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