Pune will go into this match as favourites but will also be aware that the match-winners in the side have failed to deliver. Jesse Ryder, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey and Yuvraj Singh have not as many runs as expected and it has hurt the team which boasts of having the most economical bowlers in the IPL.
Delhi Daredevils
The script is similar for Daredevils, who are last on the table with eight points but a vastly inferior net run rate than Pune’s. Delhi have also struggled to score runs and with Virender Sehwag also out with a shoulder injury, their troubles have compounded even further. The onus will be David Warner and Venugopal Rao to score the runs while Morne Morkel will lead the bowling attack that comprises mostly of discarded Indian players.
A challenging wicket provides a fascinating contest. Not essentially between the teams but at least between the bat and ball. This was on display when Pune Warriors tried to ruin Kolkata Knight Riders' party at the DY Patil stadium on Thursday night. The 'contest' was largely limited to first innings only. And it meant Pune's objective to beat the Big Brother remained just a wish.
Kolkata Knight Riders hammered them by seven wickets with more than three overs to spare. Yusuf Pathan made use receiving promotion despite being clueless on many occasions. Batting at No. 4, he made 29 off 25. Surprisingly, the fours came behind point before a trademark six off Bhuvnesh Kumar over long-on.
Captain Gambhir (54, 46b, 7x4s) was his usual self: crafty yet quiet; effective but not belligerent. The target of 119 was a child's play for his team. Pune's sloppy fielding came as unwanted bonus and without enough runs on the board, leggie Rahul Sharma wasn't a big weapon. Ganguly took 19 balls before hitting his first boundary. He ran 12 singles of his own and ran his partners' 12 runs too.
India's injured opener Virender Sehwag is confident of recovering in time for the high-profile tour of England starting in July, media reports said on Tuesday. Sehwag, captain of the Delhi Daredevils franchise in the Indian Premier League, underwent an operation on his shoulder in London last week and has already been ruled out of India's tour of West Indies beginning June 4.
"I think I will able to play the series in England," the prolific batsman was quoted as saying."That's the reason why I stopped playing the Indian Premier League for Delhi Daredevils and rushed to London to get my shoulder operated."India are set to play four Tests and five one-day internationals in England, with the first Test beginning at Lord's on July 21.
The flamboyant batsman, who has scored 7,694 Test runs and another 7,760 in one-dayers, said he was looking to regain full fitness inside eight weeks."I will return to London after six weeks for a check-up," Sehwag said. "I should be fit in six to eight weeks."Going by the rehabilitation programme designed for me I should be okay. I am already feeling the difference each day."
Delhi skipper Virender Sehwag who took the bull by its horns and in smashing a aggressive 119 not just added to the hosts' misery at the venue but also sounded the death knell for Chargers in this edition. Sehwag, though, must thank Chargers for dropping him twice, both times off Amit Mishra, which permitted him to win it for Delhi.
The teams started on an equal footing going into this game with six points apiece. The Chargers had only themselves to blame for thinking they had the match in the bag after praising out three Delhi wickets for a mere 25 runs. The rash of wickets only seemed to inspire Sehwag. He raced to his 50 in just 27 deliveries, Ishan Malhotra bearing the brunt, conceding 23 in his first over. Mishra went for 17 in his first apart from seeing substitute Ankit Sharma dropping a sitter that entirely changed the game.
Then on it was a Sehwag sizzler. The century came off a mere 48 deliveries but more importantly for Delhi he made the target seem so ridiculously easy. He had done enough -- contributed 56 -- in the fourth-wicket partnership of 61 runs with Travis Birt as Delhi needed 90 from the last 10.
Sehwag whittled it down to 27 from the last five -- 64 came in overs 10 to 15, illustrating well in the process what happens when he stays at the wicket for a mere 89 minutes. The sixth-wicket partnership of 67 runs (36b) between Sehwag and Irfan Pathan was terminated by Dale Steyn but Delhi completed the formalities of a four-wicket win an over to spare.