Indian Premier League - Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils
by Juris Graney
If the Delhi Daredevils have a bogey team in the Indian Premier League it is undoubtedly Kings XI Punjab.
In the two seasons thus far, Delhi has beaten them once in four attempts, which begs the question, what is that Punjab do so well against the high-flying Daredevils?
The Indian Premier League is still in its infancy yet these two teams have created a decent rivalry of Northern India but there is neither rhyme nor reason between Kings’ successes against Delhi.
Indian Premier League Betting Odds:
Saturday, March 13, 9am EST (8pm local Mohali time)
Kings XI Punjab +120
Delhi Daredevils –150
The closest thing to a pattern is that in two of the victories, they dismissed the dangerous openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag cheaply putting pressure on a top and middle order.
Gambhir is Delhi’s great attacking weapon – last year he crashed his way to 286 runs at a strike rate of 102.87, in retrospect it was a lean season considering the first year in which he obliterated bowling attacks piling on 534 runs in 14 matches at an average of 41 and a strike rate of 140.89.
Aside from his captaincy, that last stat is the most important in terms of Gambhir’s contribution to the team. His ability to accelerate the run rate forces the opposition to play catch up, it makes the opposition try different attacking options to prevent him teeing off.
There is a lot more emphasis on the bowlers learning new tricks to baffle batsmen, raw pace isn’t a necessity but wily thinking, changes of pace, line and length are now ever more crucial in this format than any other.
Delhi shouldn’t have an issue beating Kings XI this time out – they may be without Yuvraj Singh and Brett Lee’s availability is still shrouded in mystery, Adrian Barath is on national duties and James Hopes is injured.
While Kings have a chunky playing roster able to fill those spots, it will have affected their game plans slightly. Lee’s performance for his home state, the NSW Blues, in the Champions League Twenty20 showed that his contribution with the ball is not all he offers. His batting has improved and he is a great fielder with a rocket arm.
Delhi on the other hand have no injury worries, their only concerns will be the glut of talent they may have to shelve. Ideally Gambhir and Sehwag would be followed by Aussie tyro David Warner, AB de Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan, all-rounders like MF Maharoof, Moises Henriques and Andrew McDonald can fight it out for a lower middle order spot before Ashish Nera, Dirk Nannes and Bhatia take the final bowling spots.
It should be all too simple for Delhi but that’s the thing about a bogey team, once they get under your skin they are like a grass-tick, hard to dislodge.
