Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight Riders - 1st Playoff

The first playoff should be underway and its time to pick the likely winner of the game. I'll go with Delhi Daredevils at 60: 40 in this match despite the fact that this side may be a bit under pressure if they bat second. Right now Delhi looks good all round with their bowling and batting in place and have enough firepower to put all other teams under pressure.

KKR will look for Gambhir, Kallis and mostly the Yusuf Pathan and McCullum's to come good with their cameos. Everyone needs to pitch in here and if they do not show enough desperation, KKR could end up without enough on the board. Throughout the tournament KKR looked a bit brittle on the batting front. They have not played as much as a unit as Delhi have and have relied mainly on Gambhir and Narine's heroics.

If Delhi can figure out Sunil Narine and not lose wickets in a heap trying to hit him out of the ground, they should go through to the final whether they bat first or second. And if KKR bats first they need to put enough runs on the board or make those 120 type scores which are difficult to pace your innings to to make Delhi think twice and mess them up mentally.

All in all it looks like a 160-170 game. My one big concern with Delhi is that they could be complacent after having a relatively easier entry into the final. KKR will be intense. But both captains miss a couple of tricks, so it's a matter of who does better on the field at marshaling his resources.


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