 Battle of the equals in first IPL semis
29th May 2008 18:05 IST
Agencies
A high-octane contest between two well-balanced sides is on the anvil when table toppers Rajasthan Royals take on the confident Delhi Daredevils in the first semi-finals of the Indian Premier League in Mumbai on Friday.
The two teams, which finished first and fourth in the preliminary 56-game phase of the Twenty20 league, look evenly matched ahead of what promises to be a top-drawer stuff in front of a capacity crowd at the Wankhede Stadium.
The team that holds its nerves better and grabs chances that come its way would go through to the summit clash against the winners of the second semi-final, on May 31, between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings.
The second semi-final is also to be held at the Wankhede while the final is scheduled on June 1 at the D Y Patil Stadium, having a bigger crowd capacity.
The Shane Warne led Rajasthan, impregnable at home in Jaipur, had finished with only three losses from their 14 preliminary phase ties and have a 1-1 head-to-head record against the Daredevils, led by Virender Sehwag, who got into the last four with seven wins and 15 points to their credit.
Both had lost their matches to hosts Mumbai Indians when they visited this metro earlier and those ties were held in D Y Patil. Both must be wishing fervently that a change in venue for this knockout tie would bring in happy tidings.
Both the teams have depended on their top-order to fire well and pile up a big total, and middle orders of both the sides looked a bit under-prepared when chips were down.
They would be keen to topple the top three rival batsmen cheaply to gain a big advantage.
Tracks at the Wankhede for the IPL have helped the seam bowlers by providing lateral movement and extra bounce and someone of the calibre of Delhi Daredevils' champion bowler Glenn McGrath would relish rolling his arm at the venue.
continued.. |
