Delhi hope to garner first points

Delhi Daredevils have maintained a rare ‘consistency’ of losses this season; six in a row so far. The search for their first victory will continue on Sunday when they take on star-studded but wounded Mumbai Indians in a home match at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium on Sunday.

The mighty Mumbai, in their previous outing, were handed their heaviest loss by Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium. It triggered talks of shuffle in their final XI. The thrill and anticipation of legends Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar opening the batting have, however, met with disappointing results.

Tendulkar and Ponting have produced only two stands of 50-plus and their individual performances have left a lot to desire too. The statistics says it all. If it is 52 runs for Ponting in five innings, Tendulkar has mustered 69.  Their failure against Rajasthan also prompted Ponting to hint a change in the batting order.

The form of Dinesh Kaarthick and Rohit Sharma has been the saving grace for Mumbai. In bowling, Mumbai has variety. The attack is led by Lasith Malinga and Mitchell Johnson and complemented by spinners Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha. Kieron Pollard has been useful as a bowler apart from his muscular heaves in the death over.

In contrast, Daredevils has hit hard by the absence of Kevin Pietersen, and the dismal form of their openers have added to their woes. The association of David Warner and Sehwag was once the most feared in the IPL, but the two have failed repeatedly.

Captain Mahela Jayawardene has been carrying the batting workload and the lack of support has curtailed his natural flair. Morne Morkel and Umesh Yadav have done a decent job but need to be more consistent. One of the favourites to win last season, Daredevils will be remembering those moments and wary of matching their worst IPL performance of 2011—where they finished with the wooden spoon.

Luck, too, seemed to have deserted them as was seen in some of their close losses where the team put up a good fight but failed to give the finishing touches.

Jayawardene has invariably backed his team and expected a breakthrough in their three back-to-back home matches before Daredevils crumbled to their lowest IPL total of 83 while chasing a mammoth 170 against Chennai on Thursday.

With the victories failing to come, reaching the knockout stage is becoming a fast shrinking possibility.Mumbai won’t be an easy opposition. They are hurting after their loss to Rajasthan and will be eager to assuage their wounds against Daredevils. They had comprehensively beaten Daredevils at home by 44 runs and would be looking for an encore. For Daredevils, it is time to show some daredevilry.

Star watch

MAHELA JAYAWARDENE: Even though Delhi have failed to register a win, its captain Jayawardene has stood out with his character.  He has been the most consistent performer for his side and at least twice brought them close to victory. However, he would like to play more freely and stay till the end of the innings.

DINESH KAARTHICK: His rich vein of form has not only made him one of the leading run-scorers in this edition so far but has also bailed out Mumbai from tight spots. Coming at No 3, Karthik in five innings has scored 254 runs. He would be keen to continue his run at Kotla and help Mumbai go up in the standings.