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Centurion: The only positive for teams running into Delhi Daredevils in the IPL so far has been the sloppy form Virender Sehwag had been in. On the eve of the semi-finals, the skipper found the middle of the bat. Delhi play Deccan Chargers in the first semi-final in Centurion Friday night.
Sehwag admitted that it was important he found some form going into the business end of the tournament. "Yes it was very important for me to come good and get some runs," he said after his 27-ball 50 decimated Mumbai's hopes of bagging a consolation victory. "As a batsman, I knew I was just one innings away from a good knock. I haven't seen any batsman failing in as many innings as I did, so I always expected to get runs."
In a tournament of many ups and downs, Delhi have looked the safest bet by a long stretch, but there's a thin line between confidence and complacency that they will need to be wary of.
Sachin Tendulkar agreed that the Daredevils had looked the most impressive in the tournament, but felt the best team on the day would win. "Delhi has looked the best side, without doubt. But in this format, it's a case of having one bad day and the pressure is on you. Instead of hitting sixes, the ball might be caught at long-off. But the good thing for Delhi is that they have done well, and done well consistently," he said.
That consistency has come courtesy an intimidating top order. In Sehwag's words, "anyone in the top six can smash the ball, and when the top six in the line-up are all international players, they know how to handle the pressures of T20."
Match fact:
Friday May 22, 2009 (day/night)
Start time: 4:30pm local (14:30 GMT) 08:00pm IST
Team Delhi |
Team Hyderabad |
Last year's ranking : 4 Captain: Virender Sehwag Coach: Greg Shipperd Record: Matches-14, Won-10, Lost-4 |
Last year's ranking: 8 Captain: Adam Gilchrist Coach: Darren Lehmann Record: Matches-14, Won-7, Lost-7 |
Team form: But for a brief period, they have maintained pretty high standards for themselves right from the beginning of this event. It can be assured that they won't let all their good work be undone with one bad show! |
Team form: They have improved tremendously from the last season, and look a tight, determined unit this time. The glitch is, they tend to throw the game away from winning positions. |
Drawing board: Get Gilchrist early. They must somehow get past the dangerous Symonds too. |
Drawing board: RP and Ojha need to be at their best. Get Symonds in early. Let him take out his Ashes ouster frustration! |
X-factor: Gambhir can re-discover his form in a big game. |
X-factor: Pragyan Ojha's left-arm spin can be troublesome. |
Key stars: Nehra, Warner, Sehwag. |
Key stars: Symonds, Gibbs, RP Singh, Gilchrist |
Probable team: Gambhir, Warner, AB de Villiers, Dilshan, Karthik, Manhas, R Bhatia, Sangwan, Mishra, Nehra, Nannes. |
Probable team: Gilchrist, Gibbs, Suman, Symonds, Rohit, Venugopal, Teja, Harris, Shoaib, Ojha, RP Singh |
