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New Delhi: After redeeming their campaigns in a fantastic manner, Delhi Daredevils and defending champions Deccan Chargers will clash in a fate-deciding Indian Premier League match on Sunday, the winners of which would surely earn a semi-final spot.
Both the teams have 14 points but the hosts are sitting third in the points table by virtue of their better net run-rate, which will definitely come into play when calculations are done to determine the final four.
None of the two teams would like to leave its fate on mathematical equations and would go for the kill. The fans can look forward to a good contest between Deccan's strong batting and Delhi's stinging bowling.
Strategising for the crucial match would certainly be a headache due to the uncertain nature of the Ferozshah Kotla strip. Batting won't be easy as uneven bounce makes stroke-making all the more difficult.
So, both the teams will have to play their cards carefully and field the best possible combination, suited for the conditions. The rivals are coming into the clash with convincing wins but the defending champions are peaking just at the right time and are in scorching form with four wins in a row.
Delhi have their task cut out as Deccan's young players like Rohit Sharma and T Suman, guarding the middle-order, have the capability of decimating any attack. Together with their Australian import Andrew Symonds both Rohit and Suman have played an important part in their stunning comeback from the dumps.
And the Delhi bowlers will have to see that these players do not settle. The way Rohit guided his side to win over Kings XI Punjab and his skipper termed him as Mr Reliable, the visitors would hope the young batsman yet again rise to occasion.
Symonds too is in red-hot form and has contributed in the revival of their fortunes. The worrying factor though is prolonged poor run of their skipper Adam Gilchrist, who would be keen to make a mark in the crucial match.
Delhi's worry is indifferent form of their top order batsmen particularly explosive opener Virender Sehwag. He has not done much damage so far and the attacking batsman would love to break the shackles.
If he gets going, nothing could be better than that for Delhi. Skipper Gautam Gambhir has played a vital role in keeping the team in contention and the youngster would surely be aiming to see his side through tomorrow.
Going by present form, Delhi's chances rest on a good show by their bowlers, especially their opening fast bowlers Dirk Nannes and Ashish Nehra and spinner Amit Mishra.
Team from
Delhi Daredevils Gautam Gambhir (C), Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Pradeep Sangwan, Amit Mishra, Umesh Yadav, Kedar Jadhav, Aavishkar Salvi, Ashish Nehra, Mithun Manhas, Rajat Bhatia, AB de Villiers, Wayne Parnell, Andrew McDonald, Moises Henriques, David Warner, Dirk Nannes, Farveez Maharoof, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sarandeep Singh, Joginder Singh, Shashi Ranjan, Sarabjit Ladda, Yo Mahesh, Yogesh Nagar, Paul Collingwood, Daniel Vettori
Deccan Chargers Adam Gilchrist (C & WK), Andrew Symonds, Ryan Harris, Azhar Bilakhia, Srikkanth Anirudha, Arjun Yadav, Ravi Teja, Harmeet Singh, VVS Laxman, Pragyan Ojha, Rohit Sharma, RP Singh, Tirumalsetti Suman, Venugopal Rao, Chaminda Vaas, Dwayne Smith, Kemar Roach, Herschelle Gibbs, Scott Styris, Bodapati Sumanth, Ashish Reddy, Monish Mishra, Mitchell Marsh, Anirudh Singh, Jaskaran Singh, Rahul Sharma
Match facts
Sunday April 18, 2010 (day/night)
Start time 20:00 local (14:30 GMT)
