Rising Pune Supergiant will look to settle scores against Delhi Daredevils here on Friday after suffering a humiliating 97-run loss in the reverse fixture earlier this 10th edition of Indian Premier league season.
When the two sides faced each other last month, Pune were bowled out for a paltry 108 after Delhi posted a mammoth 205/4, thanks to Sanju Samson's brilliant 102 off just 63 balls.
However, the fortunes have changed for both sides since then. Supergiant are on a roll after winning seven of their last eight matches. On the other hand, Daredevils are out of the play-offs race and can play for nothing but pride in front of the home fans at Feroz Shah Kotla in the last two matches.
The visitors will be brimming with confidence after managing to defend an average 148 total against defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last game. The win was mainly possible because of an impressive five-wicket haul — including a hat-trick — by Jaydev Unadkat. Unadkat has been impressive this season, picking up 17 wickets at an excellent average of 14. leggie Imran Tahir has also been exceptional, with 18 wickets to his name.
Even though batsmen did not fire for them in the last game, Pune have a very good batting line-up. Captain Steve Smith and Rahul Tripathi have been consistently performing well for the side. They also have good options in the likes of former India captain MS Dhoni, opener Ajinkya Rahane and the league's costliest buy in Ben Stokes, who can change the course of the match at any given day.
It is the same old story for Delhi fans as there team has simply not been able to match the big boys of the league once again. Consistency has been another major issue for the Zaheer Khan-led side. They have chased down massive targets in-and-around 200 quite comfortable some nights and on the other nights they have been bowled out for alarmingly low scores. They have promising young batsmen in Sanju Samson, Karun Nair, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant among their ranks, but they have failed to score runs consistently as a unit. Delhi have definitely missed one or two big experienced hitters in their side this season.
The bowling looked good at the earlier part of the season, but lately the bowlers have struggled to prevent the run-flow as opponents are scoring at will against Daredevils.
The likes of Amit Mishra, skipper, Zaheer and Pat Cummins will look to get back to their best to try and stop the run flow.
Besides, Mohammed Shami will look to end the IPl season on a high in order to cement a starting-place for India in the upcoming Champions Trophy.