Finally IPL reach a knockout stage where whichever team loose from here on has no other option than leaving there hopes of winning the beautiful IPL 2009 trophy. There will be no such second chance for team now so this makes 1st semi finals between Delhi Daredevils and Deccan Chargers more interesting. Both team started their IPL 2009 campaign in great fashion winning their first three matches on trot. However Delhi Daredevils continued their good show but Deccan Chargers lost their momentum in the middle of the tournament. Deccan Chargers reached into the semifinals thanks to some of the other team who hasn’t played well up to their potential. On current form, Delhi have to start off as favourites: Virender Sehwag's return to form has further boosted an already fantastic batting line-up. AB de Villiers has guided the middle order superbly, and is the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament, while Tillakaratne Dilshan and Dinesh Karthik have lent him excellent support. Delhi bowling with three left-arm seamers – Ashish Nehra, Dirk Nannes and Pradeep Sangwan looks more stable than Deccan Chargers bowling unit. Deccan Chargers will go into this game having lost their last two encounters, one against Kings XI Punjab by 1 run and other against Royal Challengers Bangalore by 12 runs. However in this shorter version of the game it’s very hard to choose the clear winner from the start however if I have to bet, I will put my money on Delhi Daredevils. Pitch & Conditions The pitch at SuperSport Park, Centurion will be same as used in the last game against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Team winning the toss would like to bat first and put runs on the board to put pressure on team batting second. Any score between 160-170 would be defendable total on this wicket. Team News Ashish Nehra was given rest in the last game against Mumbai Indians but in the big game at Centurion he will make comeback to the squad. Rest of the team will be same which played against Mumbai Indians. On the other hand Deccan Chargers is likely to go into the match with same playing XI that played against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Likely Playing XI for both teams (Match is schedule to begin at 20:00 PM India Time on 22nd Of May) Delhi Daredevils: David Warner, Gautam Gambhir, Virendra Sehwag (Captain), Ab Devilliers, T.Dilshan, D.Kartik (WK), R.Bhatia, F.Mehroof, P.Sangwan, D.Nannes, A.Nehra. Deccan Chargers: Adam Gilchrist (Captain/WK), Herschelle Gibbs, T.Suman, Rohit Sharma, A.Symonds, Venugopal Rao, Azhar Bilakhia, Ryan Harris, Harmeet Singh, Pragyan Ojha, RP Singh. Stats & Trivia Deccan Chargers has never beaten Delhi Daredevils in IPL. In 2008 Deccan Chargers lost their both games in round-robin stage and same things happened in 2009 also. That mean Deccan Chargers have to come out with some different ideas to come out winner in the 1st semi finals at Centurion. Virendra Sehwag's half-century was the 11th score of 50 or more by a Delhi Daredevils batsman. Deccan Chargers have achieved this only seven times. Left arm fast bowlers have taken 48 out of 87 wickets for Delhi Daredevils. In the last three games Delhi Daredevils left-arm bowler Ashish Nehra taken three wickets in his 11 overs and conceded just 35 runs. |
