After an uplifting win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday, Delhi Daredevils will be keen to carry the momentum forward against Suresh Raina led Gujarat lions on Thursday.
Both teams have produced underwhelming performances this season. Delhi are currently sixth in the points table while Gujarat are seventh. While the possibility of making the play-offs looks unlikely, both sides would like to garner as many wins as possible in their remaining matches. Daredevils, with just three wins in nine matches this season, have been disappointing. They went into the tournament with a side that was heavy in the bowling department.
But the leader of tha attack and also the team, Zaheer Khan is unlikely to be available for Thursday's match due to his hamstring injury.
As the wicket in Kotla has possessed good pace and bounce this season, Rabada and Cummins could both be useful. But Morris has been among the wickets and may retain his place. But Delhi's main problem has been their batting. The team chose to place its faith in talented youngsters instead of big names. Initially the strategy seemed to work but later on, the absence of a proven performer was keenly felt. While the likes of Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant have played good knocks, they have failed to convert them into big scores. The likes of Shreyas Iyer and Karun Nair haven't delivered and experienced Angelo Matthews is yet to contribute substantially. Corey Anderson can play useful cameos but he needs a good platform to provide a surge at the end.
On the other hand, Gujarat lions have also not risen to the occasion this season. Their squad is exactly opposed in nature to Delhi with many unheralded bowlers and lot of dangerous batsmen.
However, lions have struggled on account of conceding too many runs. Andrew Tye was one bowler doing well but he has been ruled out due to a shoulder injury. Experienced Indian bowlers Praveen Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja have not delivered. James Faulkner is the sole proven commodity in the bowling attack but he too is yet to show his best.
The batting has performed a little better but has problems. McCullum has been the most dependable batsmen and Raina has played couple of good innings. But others have been fairly inconsistent. There has been a lack of collective team effort with most finding form in just one odd match and not together consistently.
If the Kotla wicket continues to have good pace and bounce like in the first three matches, then it would be exciting to see the contest between Delhi's pace bowlers and Gujarat's big hitters.
Bowlers like Rabada and Cummins would like the true bounce of the pitch while big hitters like McCullum and Finch would enjoy the ball coming on to the bat. This contest could very well decide the fate of the match.