At home, Delhi Daredevils looks to keep it going

Encouraged by a return to winning form at home, Delhi Daredevils would be hoping to carry the momentum when it takes on fellow struggler Gujarat Lions at the Ferozshah Kotla on Thursday.

Delhi Daredevils skipped the practice session on Wednesday due to inclement weather.

Encouraged by a return to winning form at home, Delhi Daredevils would be hoping to carry the momentum when it takes on fellow struggler Gujarat Lions here on Thursday.

Yet again it would be a battle of Delhi bowling and Gujarat batting, even though the latter is yet to consistently live up to its reputation and the former struggled against Sunrisers Hyderabad and had to be rescued, for once, by its inexperienced batsmen. The win helped DD leapfrog Gujarat into sixth place despite an equal number of points but with an extra game in hand.

The collective batting effort helped DD overcome a stiff 186-run target with useful contributions from everyone despite no stand-out brilliance. Karun Nair finally got some runs, as did Corey Anderson and Sanju Samson. It was also one of the few occasions when DD’s bowling faltered. While Jayant Yadav and Amit Mishra did stop the run flow in the middle, Kagiso Rabada had a forgettable outing and, in the continued absence of Zaheer Khan, the team would be hoping for a better effort from its bowlers but not really concerned about it.

What would be a concern for Delhi would be its poor fielding that saw SRH score more than it should have. Dropped catches, overthrows and misfields all contributed to the high SRH total and that is one department where Gujarat has a clear edge and may well make the difference to the result on Thursday.

With the likes of Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Brendon McCullum in its ranks, it was GL's fielding that helped it take a seemingly lost game against Mumbai Indians into Super Over before losing out eventually. All but out of the race for the playoffs, the team that finished an impressive third on debut last year has struggled for form on all fronts and, seventh on the table with just three wins in 10 games, has little to lose here-on.

The presence of big-hitters like McCullum, Aaron Finch, James Faulkner, Raina and an impressive Ishan Kishan has meant big totals racked up but the bowling has let down the team. The all-Indian bowling unit of Basil Thampi, Pradeep Sangwan, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ankit Soni, Nathu Singh, Irfan Pathan and Praveen Kumar has failed to impress much in terms of results and Andrew Tye's injury has only weakened it further. Jadeja and Faulkner too are yet to leave a mark.