Bottom-placed Delhi face resurgent Sunrisers at home

NEW DELHI: It's remarkable how often IPL team line-ups which look good post-auction fail to deliver on the field.
For Delhi Daredevils, who take on a resurgent Sunrisers Hyderabad in an afternoon game at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Saturday, it's time to wake up to the fact that wiping the slate clean ahead of IPL 7 may have been an over-reaction.
As things stand, they are still languishing at the bottom of the table and stare at a must-win situation in every game to salvage their season.It doesn't help that they have already lost three games on the trot here at home and managed to prise out only seven opposition wickets in those games. Mohammad Shami, Wayne Parnell, Shahbaz Nadeem and Co have not been on the ball.
The Devils have also never won against this Sunrisers team in three attempts over the past two seasons, the latest loss coming in Dubai a few days earlier when DD bowlers failed to reign in Warner and Finch and took only one wicket before the batsmen fell agonizingly short in the chase to lose by 4 runs.
Skipper Kevin Pietersen, beleaguered with troubles of his own in England leading up to the IPL, is struggling for form after recovering from a finger injury and averages 15.50 with a strike rate below 100. Having overspent on Dinesh Karthik and over-estimated Quinton de Kock's ability to single-handedly turn games, they have had to fall back on JP Duminy and Kedhar Jadhav, who are usually late middle-order regulars but may now have to firm the strike more given the problems at the top.
The match also marks a return for Hyderabad skipper Shikhar Dhawan to hometown Delhi, and he will fancy his chances on familiar territory given the remarkable turnaround win engineered by his formidable bowling unit in the last game against Rajasthan Royals.
While Delhi's cricket fans have an opportunity to watch Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Dale Steyn in action, the home team seems resigned to another failed season.
Perhaps it was fitting that Delhi's latest recruit, South Africa's leg-spinner Imran Tahir - who comes in to provide some much-needed quality slow-bowling - talked about "kismet" on match-eve.
"I know the team is not doing well and I've come here hoping to do something," said Tahir, who did well on similar ("not spin friendly") tracks in Bangladesh during the World T20.
"Even if we can win 4 out of the remaining 6, we can justify our presence. It's not a holiday. They are doing the hard work but sometimes things don't go your way. Ismey kismet ka haath hai (fate has a hand to play in this)." Interestingly, Tahir said he was not inclined to bowl during the Powerplays.
Wonder what Gary Kirsten has to say about that.
WATCH OUT FOR...
Kevin Pietersen (DD): Can he come up with a match-defining show? Bhuvneshwar Kumar (SRH): Has been effective with his swing bowling.
Problem areas:
DD: Lack self-belief after a string of defeats. Face early elimination. SRH: Too reliant on the bowlers. The batsmen have been inconsistent.