Posts Tagged ‘Delhi Capitals’
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We are in the final week of the round robin stage of IPL2020 and the playoff spots are still up for grabs. Mumbai Indians with 16 points are almost in but again they would feel safe with another win under their belt. The fantastic thing about this season is that all the teams except for Chennai Super Kings have an outside chance of making the playoffs. Kings XI Punjab who looked like being down and out after first 7 games have made an incredible comeback winning 5 games on the bounce to become one of the top contenders for the playoff spot. Kolkata Knight Riders have had a mixed tournament. They surely haven’t been consistent but again they have done enough to keep themselves in the race.
Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals though have been hanging by a thread and possibly have an outside chance of making it if they win both their games and other results go their way. The two top teams of this years IPL Royal Challenges Bangalore and Delhi Capitals though have seen their season take turn for the worse in the latter part of the tournament. DC who have been brilliant in this years tournament have had very poor last few games. They have not only been losing but the losses have been heavy as well. Their 88 run loss to SRH has given the latter a lot of hope but has dented DC’s NRR pretty badly. RCB who have been very consistent in this years IPL have now lost two games in a row making their qualification path slightly more complicated.
This season has been extremely competitive and the most dangerous team in the coming days is going to be CSK. The men in yellow have nothing to lose and they would want to end the season on a high. The next few days is going to be crucial for all the sides in the competition. While the top 3 sides want to finally confirm their playoff spots, the rest of the 4 are battling to topple one of them into the playoffs as well.
DC and RCB have been brilliant this season but their recent reversal in results would have surely caused some jitters in their camp. Both these teams have been in these situations in the past an they surely would want to avoid that from happening again this season. RR and SRH who at max can reach 14 points would not only want to win their remaining games but would also want to improve their NRR as there is bound to be tie at number 4 in the table.
This years IPL in the UAE has been exciting and close and the final week is no different. With as many as 7 teams in the running for 4 spots, the tournament has been one of the best in history of IPL. All the teams would want to make one last push towards the playoff spots and it will be interesting to see who gets there.
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Delhi have been part of IPL since it’s inception in 2008. While they started off with a good first season reaching the play-offs, Delhi Daredevils as they were called then weren’t able to crack the code. They had a very good squad but again for some reason they never gelled as a team to put together one cohesive performance to win the title. Their performances went from bad to worse as the seasons went on and it seemed like DD would never rise from the mediocrity they had pushed themselves into.
In 2018 though everything changed for the team from Delhi. The first thing that happened is that the team rebranded themselves as Delhi Capitals. Obviously the name change alone cannot change the fortunes of a struggling side, they also needed to change their thinking and attitude. Making young Shreyas Iyer the captain of the franchise was the next step which the franchise took that year. Iyer who after being mysteriously dropped from the national side needed something to prove his credentials as one of the bright young players in the country. DC also signed up Australian Ricky Ponting as the head coach of the team in the same year.
The franchise went with young players from India and also signed up some good international players. They did not invest on stars but invested on players who would provide the team with good balance. While DC showed glimpses of good performances over the past couple of seasons they seemed to have finally matured into a good side this season. The best thing about Delhi Capitals this year has been the balance they have in the squad. The addition of Marcus Stoinis this season has been a master stroke as the Australian has been in tremendous form.
Kagiso Rabada is once again having a fantastic season ably supported by his fellow country man Anrich Nortje. They also snapped up Ravichandran Ashwin in a trade off with KXIP and that has added an additional spin option with loads of experience internationally and in this league. They are also one of the few franchises who have a settled and solid opening pair. Even though Shikhar Dhawan hasn’t lit up the tournament yet, Prithvi Shaw has been phenomenal. Shreyas Iyer as usual has been brilliant and Rishabh Pant has done well in the limited chances he has got. This solid top 4 is followed by Stoinis and Shimron Hetmyer. They also have Alex Carey and Ajinkya Rahane sitting in the bench in case they need to change things up. They also have Daniel Sams, Ishant Sharma and Kemo Paul as the pace bowling options if they decide to rest any of the main bowlers later in the season. Young Sandeep Lamichhane is available for DC as well if they would like to experiment.
DC have shown great awareness and planning over the last few years to build a very strong squad. They are probably the only team who have great options for every position who are equally good. The signing of Ajinkya Rahane and Ravi Ashwin over the past couple of seasons shows us that. They like to have solid back ups and that provides them immense confidence to pick any XI they want without compromising the quality of their XI. For example when Ashwin got injured, Amit Mishra seamlessly stepped in and now when the latter is not available Ashwin has come in an delivered.
While they do have an excellent team and have started the season brilliantly, they would want to guard against complacency. It is important to keep performing at a high level through a gruelling tournament to reach the play-offs first and then to actually win the title. Delhi Capitals would know that well begun is half done but they did the same last year as well. Ricky Ponting and Shreyas Iyer will know that they cannot drop the intensity at anytime in this tournament. They do have a great team this season and it will be a shame if they cannot go all the way this time.
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Two matches and two losses is what Sun Risers Hyderabad’s resume reads in this season of IPL. In a tournament where teams are breaching 200 for fun SRH have scores of 153 and 142/4 in the two games they have batted so far. SRH have never been a batting team, far from it. They rely a lot on their bowling attack to bail them from shoddy batting displays. Their batting heavily relies on David Warner to score runs. The Australian has seldom disappointed as he has basically carried a weak batting lineup to a title win in 2016.
Jonny Bairstow since joining the franchise has been another great addition to the top order and has done exceedingly well in the games he has played. But after that the SRH batting barring Manish Pandey lacks any sort of punch. Multiple times last season we saw how their batting crumbled after Jonny Bairstow got out. Kane Williamson who does not find a place in the XI probably needs to get a look in to bolster a struggling top order.
SRH bowlers have always been their strength and they do operate in a certain way. The IPL mainly takes place during the summer in India and the slow/rough wickets back home is perfect for the SRH bowlers. Their bowling attack relies a lot on Rashid Khan and the seamers. Bowlers like Sid Kaul who rely a lot on cutters and slower ones are difficult to get away on wickets in India during the summer time. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Sandeep Sharma give them the breakthrough with the new ball and the spinners led by Rashid Khan choke the opposition in the middle overs.
This has always been their plan in the IPL and they have been fairly successful in their strategy over the years. The big problem for SRH is the pitches in UAE at least at the start of the season. The wickets have been flat with true bounce and batters who can it big have ruled the roost. The fact that captain David Warner hasn’t hit the straps yet has caused SRH to struggle with the run rate. Bairstow has had one good innings but again once he got out like in the 2019 season the SRH batting crumbled.
SRH bowlers need to get back into the groove and quickly assess the conditions and length which will work on them for SRH to come back into the season. They also need to get Kane Williamson in to the XI at number 3. Manish Pandey will bat at number 4 followed by Mohammad Nabi or Vijay Shankar. Wriddhiman Saha in the middle order does not provide any value to SRH and they would benefit from someone who can go after the bowling in that position.
Losing Mitchell Marsh in the first game of the tournament is not the kind of start SRH would have hoped for but again they need to look past that. They have an okay squad and they need to make the most of it. Their bowling attack needs to adjust to the UAE wickets and provide their batter the backing they so wonderfully do back in India. Today’s game isn’t going to be easy as Delhi Capitals are one of the best teams of the tournament but again SRH will be hoping for the openers to get going to help the bowlers with a target they can defend.
SRH XI for tonight’s game:
Jonny Bairstow (Wk), David Warner (C), Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Mohammad Nabi, Vijay Shankar, Priyam Garg, Rashid Khan, Abhishek Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma/Basil Thampi
DC’s first game against KXIP despite their win followed a similar pattern to the 2019 season. Their top order collapsed leaving too much to do for the middle order. DC’s inconsistencies throughout 2019 was due to the fact that their batters did not put in cohesive performances through the season. Shikhar Dhawan at the top had a brilliant season with over 500 runs but his partner Prithvi Shaw had a shocker. Colin Ingram, Sherfane Rutherford and Colin Munro struggled in the chances they received.
The pressure on Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant was enormous and both came out with a decent 400+ runs last season. Even though Iyer and Pant tried their best their batting collapses were too often for them to make a difference. Despite having 3 batters in 400+ list DC failed to make an impact. In the first game of the season Delhi Capitals once again found themselves in the familiar territory. The top order failed leaving again captain Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant to perform the rescue act. Delhi almost faltered but a freak innings from all-rounder Marcus Stoinis rescued them from being bowled out within their allotted 20 overs.
The personnel have changed but the problem remains. Shikhar Dhawan can have a few failures and he is not the problem, Prithvi Shaw is. The Indian Test opener had a average season last year with an average of only 22. DC will benefit from good starts in few games at the top which was few and far between last season. DC will also want more from Shimron Hetmyer at number 3 and will be hoping that the West Indian will come into some sort of form for them in the rest of the season. Marcus Stoinis looks in tremendous form with the bat but innings like the one he played in the first game does not occur regularly.
Delhi Capitals still have Alex Carey in their squad who was in amazing form in the recently concluded ODI series in England. Ajinkya Rahane is in their squad as well but I am not sure he is the right fit for DC at the moment. I don’t think there is a need to panic for DC just yet after just one game but again they will be keeping an eye out on the batters. Making the right calls at the right time is crucial in the tournament like IPL as a downward spiral can make the tournament feel really long.
Delhi Capitals have a very strong squad and with right personnel in the playing XI, they will be strong contenders for the title.
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Despite their indifferent season Chennai Super Kings will start as favourites against Delhi Capitals
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Delhi Capitals (DC) with take on each other at Visakhapatnam tonight for a spot in the IPL finals. They will be meeting Mumbai Indians in the finals on Sunday. Both teams had a good league phase as they both finished on an identical 18 points. Delhi Capitals who began the season with some inconsistent performances finally found their mettle towards the latter half to reach the play-offs after 7 years. By beating Sun Risers Hyderabad in the first eliminator they also completed another first by winning their first knockout IPL game ever.
Delhi Capitals will hope that they can show enough mental fortitude to pull one through against CSK
DC have a strong team. Their batting led by Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant has been firing and their bowling with Ishant Sharma and Kagiso Rabada did very well during the league phase. Even though they are missing Rabada for the play-offs they have a world class replacement in Trent Boult who has had a good couple of games. The addition of Keemo Paul and Sherfane Rutherford also has given them a good balance which they were missing early in the tournament. Prithvi Shaw who seemed checked out after a great start to the season came back some sort of a rhythm in the eliminator 1 with a fifty and Rishabh Pant looked in fine touch with a match winning 49.
For CSK though batting has been their achilles heel throughout the season. Their opening combination barring couple of games has struggled and Shane Watson on whom the team had put lots of faith hasn’t really repaid them with performances. Suresh Raina has once again done well without being spectacular and apart from MS Dhoni the rest of the batting has simply struggled. The bowling has done well especially on slow Chennai wickets but again they haven’t tried anything different even when they have been on the road except for few games here and there. For CSK to be competitive they need to have their batting firing for them to have a chance against a good DC unit.
Head to Head:
Chennai Super Kings have had the wood over Delhi Capitals over the years. They have beaten DC twice already this season and they have an overall record of 13-6 against DC in IPL.
Key Players:
MS Dhoni (CSK) – There isn’t a player who is more important to a franchise than MSD is for Chennai Super Kings. CSK have shown that during this season where they have struggled to win without their captain in the helm. MSD has been their best batter this season and has already scored 405 runs at an average of 135. He will once again be crucial for the men in yellow.
Imran Tahir (CSK) – Tahir has been the constant for CSK this season while they have rotated their other spinners around. Tahir has had a wonderful season so far and is currently second in the list of highest wicket takers behind Kagiso Rabada. With an economy rate of 6.62, he has not only picked up wickets but also has been tough to get away in the middle overs.
Shikhar Dhawan (DC) – Delhi Capitals have never been in this situation before. With a chance now to reach the finals and go all they way, they would his experience to guide them. Dhawan after an indifferent start has had a good season with the bat. He has scored 503 runs so far and will be expected to guide a young team in the all important clash.
Rishabh Pant (DC) – Rishabh Pant will always remain DC’s talisman in any game they play in IPL. He showed in a tight game in the Play-Offs how destructive he can be and how he can change the course of the game in a short span of time. He once again will be crucial in the middle overs against CSK’s spinners as he can easily break open the game with few big hits.
This will be a really mouth watering contest. Probably last season I wouldn’t have given DC any chance against CSK in a play-off game but again this time, the latter haven’t been at their best throughout. DC have the bowling and the firepower in the batting to pull this through but again I just feel CSK just has enough experience to pull this through.
Probable Playing X1’s:
CSK X1 – Shane Watson, Faf Du Plessis, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (C & WK), M Vijay, Ambati Rayudu, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Scott kuggeleijn/Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir
DC X1 – Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer (C), Rishabh Pant (WK), Colin Munro, Axar Patel, Sherfane Rutherford, Keemo Paul, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Trent Boult
Quotes:
“We need to have more balance in the first six – around 40 would be nice. That may get you to a score of 150-160 which can be a match-winning score. We’re just falling behind at different stages but it’s the first six that’s holding us back when we lose wickets. Maybe in case we just throw the shackles off and have a crack in the next game and see if we can just get ourselves into form and confidence,” – Stephen Fleming
“It’s not about who we’re playing, it’s about how our preparations are. And we’re really looking forward to it and hope we do what we’ve done earlier” – Prithvi Shaw
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Shreyas Iyer (Left) and Rishabh Pant (Right) will be crucial for Delhi Capitals in their Eliminator clash against SRH
Delhi Capitals will be wondering what they are doing in the first eliminator after a stellar league phase finishing on 18 points. That’s how good the competition has been this season. Both Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians beat them by just a smidgen to get to the top of the table. This means that DC will take on Sun Risers Hyderabad who have qualified for the play-offs by skin of their teeth. Both teams have had their issues but in this encounter, Delhi Capitals surely start as the overwhelming favourites.
DC’s batting is more settled and their bowling attack has been doing well throughout. Even though missing the purple cap holder Kagiso Rabada will be a huge blow for them, they still have the bowlers to cause trouble to the struggling SRH batting line up. Trent Boult had a good game against Rajasthan Royals and with Ishant Sharma bowling brilliantly with the new ball they have a good attack which can be hand full on their day. The batting has always been DC’s strength though. Their captain Shreyas Iyer has been in great form throughout and even though Rishabh Pant has been inconsistent, he can on his day turn any match on its head. With the experience of Shikhar Dhawan at the top, DC have almost all bases covered and are probably one of the most stable sides of the tournament.
SunRisers Hyderabad will rely on their bowling attack and runs from their captain in their crucial clash against Delhi Capitals
For SRH though, things haven’t been that rosy. They have qualified for the play-offs on 12 points which is the lowest in the history of the IPL so far. Their batting was dragged along by David Warner and Jonny Bairstow through the season and they have struggled for runs since their departure. Their Captain Kane Williamson had a very good game against Royal Challengers Bangalore but again they would need contributions from rest of the batting to put pressure on DC. With Khaleel Ahmed with the new ball along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, their bowling though has looked good but once again their trump card will be Rashid Khan. He has been their go to bowler this season as well and once again will be crucial in the eliminator.
Key Players:
Shreyas Iyer (DC) – The captain of Delhi Capitals has been the linchpin of their batting through the season. He has scored 442 runs this season and has been the cool head in the middle overs guiding the team through some important phases of the game. He will once again be important not only with his batting but also with his captaincy in the field.
Rishabh Pant (DC) – Pant has had a frustrating series with the bat. When you look at his numbers (401 runs at 36 at a SR of 157), it does not look bad but again his temperament has come into question a few times. He does bring an X-Factor to Delhi batting though. If he gets going, it will be difficult for the opposition to stop. DC will be hoping that he has a good day.
Kane Williamson (SRH) – Williamson by his standards has had a very poor season. The 70 runs he scored against RCB was his first 50 of the season which has been very ordinary. Williamson though is a very good captain and he had led SRH to an IPL final last year and his leadership along with some runs at the top will be crucial for SRH to put up a fighting total.
Rashid Khan (SRH) – Rashid is second in the list of wicket takers for SRH but once again he will be the crucial cog in their bowling arsenal this evening. He bowls majority of his overs in the middle phase of the game and picking up wickets during that time will be crucial in restricting DC to a manageable score.
This will be an interesting game and even though Delhi will start as the favourites, we need to keep in mind that they have never won a play-off game yet. They will be under tremendous pressure to achieve what they haven’t in 12 years of this competition. For SRH though they have won IPL before and they were the finalists last year as well. This will be a close game but I feel that DC just has the edge to pull through this one. DC might play the same XI they played in their last league game but SRH might make couple of changes based on the surface.
Possible XI:
Delhi Capitals – Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer (C), Rishabh Pant (WK), Colin Ingram, Sherfane Rutherford, Axar Patel, Keemo Paul, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Trent Boult.
Sun Risers Hyderabad – Martin Guptill, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson (C), Vijay Shankar, Yusuf Pathan, Mohammad Nabi/Billy Stanlake, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Basil Thampi/Siddarth Kaul
Quotes:
“We have to take the confidence from our win against them in Hyderabad. They also beat us in Delhi, so both the teams are fairly confident, and it is going to be a tough match. However, they are also missing some of their players, and we are without Kagiso now, so it is going to be a difficult task as well, but a well-matched encounter” – Shreyas Iyer, Delhi Capitals captain
IPL 2019 – Weekend 1 Review
Posted on: March 25, 2019
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Rishabh Pant’s brilliant 78 of 27 balls downed MI by 37 runs at the Wankhede Stadium.
pic courtesy The Cricket Times
The season 12 of IPL began last Saturday with it’s usual glitz and glamour. The defending champions Chennai Super Kings took on Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opener at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Let us take a look at all 3 games which took place over the weekend.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) (MAC Stadium Chennai)
Chennai was the venue for the IPL 2019 opener and even though the game was played between two strong teams, the game itself ended up as a snooze fest. The wicket at MAC was slow and low with lots of turn and the batting was incredibly difficult for both the teams. RCB won the toss and batted first and lost their captain Virat Kohli soon for 6. The rest of the batting struggled on a sluggish pitch to end up with a sub-par total of 71 in 17.2 overs. Imran Tahir 3/9 and Harbhajan Singh 3/20 were the chief wreckers for the hosts. The pitch wasn’t ideal for a T20 game and was criticised after the game by CSK captain MS Dhoni. Chennai Super Kings crawled their way to the target in 17.4 overs with the loss of 3 wickets. Overall an underwhelming game for the fans but for the hosts though, this was a perfect start to the tournament.
CSK 71/3 in 17.4 overs (A Rayudu 28, Y Chahal 1/6) beat RCB 71 (P Patel 29, I Tahir 3/9) by 7 wickets.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) (Eden Gardens, Kolkata)
KKR opened their campaign of IPL 2019 with a game against last years finalist SRH at Eden Gardens. KKR won the toss and elected to field first on a very good batting track. SRH did not waste the opportunity with the bat though with David Warner making a brilliant comeback to IPL. He scored 85 of 53 balls and strung a 118 run first wicket partnership with Jhonny Bairstow (39) for the first wicket. SRH due to some late push from Vijay Shankar (40 of 24) reached 181/3 in 20 overs. KKR lost Chris Lynn early in the chase but Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana added 80 runs for the second wickets to keep them in the hunt. With 64 runs needed of 27 balls, Andre Russell with his brilliant 49 (19) took the game away from the visitors and KKR won the game by 6 wickets with 2 balls to spare.
KKR 183/4 in 19.4 overs (N Rana 68, R Khan 1/26) beat SRH 181/3 (D Warner 85, A Russell 2/32) by 6 wickets.
Delhi Capitals (DC) vs Mumbai Indians (MI) (Wankhede Stadium,Mumbai)
Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to field first on a very good batting track. DC through Shikhar Dhawan and Colin Ingram kept their run-rate steady after losing Shreyas Iyer and Phritvi Shaw with just 29 runs on the board. The entry of Rishabh Pant though changed the mood completely. Pant who looked in brilliant form completely exploded with the bat and MI bowlers did not realise what hit them. Pant finished on 78 of just 27 balls propelling DC total to 213/6 in 20 overs. For MI though the target proved too stiff in the end as they got bowled out for 176, losing the game by 37 runs. The bowling performance of Kagiso Rabada (2/23) will be a big boost for DC as he will be their trump card at the start of the season. This was a brilliant win for Delhi Capitals as their new look squad this season looks more balanced and they will be looking to build on this win to reach the play-offs this season.
DC 213/6 (R Pant 78*, M McClenaghan 3/40) beat MI 176 (Y Singh 53, K Rabada 2/23) by 37 runs.
Review:
The weekend and the start of IPL season 12 wasn’t the best with a poor pitch at MAC playing the spoilsport. Royal Challengers though have themselves to blame with some daft team selection and some poor shots from the top order. CSK did not have to do much in the chase as they took their time to knock off the runs. CSK read the pitch better than RCB and picked the right team for the conditions. The RCB batters played into their hands by playing some atrocious strokes to lose their wickets as well. Both captain’s were unhappy with the pitch and Dhoni especially was critical of CSK’s home conditions.
SRH who were without their captain will be extremely happy with their batting performance and particularly will be ecstatic with David Warner’s form in the tournament opener. Vijay Shankar who has been a regular in the Indian ODI team recently also did well with the bat. The biggest concern for them will be their bowling. After keeping the runs in check for 15 overs, the last 4 overs saw them completely imploding. Their star bowler Rashid Khan was once again the best with 1/26 in 4 overs. The rest of the attack though have lot to work on in the upcoming games.
The game at Wankhede was a run fest and Rishabh Pant just tore into MI’s bowling attack with a mind blowing innings. MI who were hoping to chase something in the vicinity of 180, suddenly found themselves chasing more than 200 runs. Rishabh Pant’s brilliance meant that MI’s batting struggled to keep up with the rate and ended up on the losing side. Yuvraj Singh scoring some runs will be a good thing for MI as they had hoped for him to provide some stability to the middle order. For DC though, Rishabh Pant’s form at the start of the season will be a boost and they will be hoping to get more out of Prithvi Shaw and Shreyas Iyer in the upcoming games.
Overall a good weekend of cricket and with teams just starting to get their feet wet, we will see them evolve and improve as the tournament goes on.
Some Quotes after the games:
“The wicket definitely needs to be much better, even with dew it was spinning big,” Dhoni said at the post-match presentation ceremony here last night.
“(On Pant) He is a really destructive batsman, that’s the only thing I can say about him. He has matured over the years. Today, he played four dot balls early on and then just took them apart.” Shreyas Iyer in the post match presentation ceremony.
“We made a lot of mistakes today and that was the reason we lost the match. We were in the game in the first 10 overs while bowling but the way Rishabh batted, we have to give the credit to him.” Said Rohit Sharma after their loss to DC.
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My Thoughts 