IPL 2013: Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders, Where to Watch Live, Preview

Delhi Daredevils host defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders in the second of two Indian Premier League (IPL) matches scheduled for the day. The side from the country's capital started the season in abysmal form, with six defeats from the opening six games. However, a measure of pride has been salvaged with two wins from the last three games. Meanwhile, Kolkata have struggled in recent games and the champions are six points behind Mumbai Indians in fourth, the final qualifying position for the next stage.

Gautam Gambhir (Captain, Kolkata Knight Riders) — Reuters

Where to Watch Live

Play is to start at 3.30pm BST. Live coverage is on ITV 4 and ITV 4 HD. Text updates are on ESPN Cricinfo.

Overview

A change of scenery seems to have done Delhi some good. The side moved to the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur for the last match and produced a solid 15-run win over Pune Warriors.

The much-vaunted Daredevils batting line-up managed a strong 164/5 batting first, with contributions from Virender Sehwag and Kedhar Jadhav backing David Warner's unbeaten 51 off 25 balls. And then two wickets each from Irfan Pathan and Umesh Yadav, as well as reasonably disciplined bowling from the rest of the squad meant Pune were stopped at 149/4.

However, it may worry captain Mahela Jayawardene that there are still undercurrents of inconsistency in the batting. Sehwag, for example, hit a brilliant unbeaten 95 off 57 balls against Mumbai last week but has been dismissed for below 30 in both games since that 87-run win. And he himself has managed only 16 runs since his 59 off 43 last week.

The good news is Warner provides back-up. The Australian has picked up the slack in the last couple of games but there needs to be a team effort to consistently post or chase down high scores; Chennai Super Kings are an example.

With the ball, the quartet of Indian seamers - Pathan, Yadav, Ashish Nehra and Ajit Agarkar - have been satisfactory without being brilliant. And that too needs to change. The Daredevils need to find a strike bowler from somewhere or at least ensure a team effort in every game, if they are to launch a late and dramatic charge for a top four finish.

Virender Sehwag (Delhi Daredevils) — Reuters

Meanwhile, the champions will need to recover after an amazingly high-scoring game against the Super Kings. Kolkata's bowlers were hammered by the Chennai batsmen, with Wriddhiman Saha, Michael Hussey, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni taking the two-time champions to 200/3. Kolkata's batsmen almost chased down the total, with Manvinder Bisla's heroic 92 off 61 balls and Eoin Morgan's 32 of 22 balls just falling short.

The defeat, incidentally, means Chennai have done the double over the Knight Riders this season, following a four wicket win in Kolkata earlier. It also means captain Gautam Gambhir needs to crack the whip on his bowlers ahead of this game.

Sehwag, Jayawardene and Warner are, individually, more than capable of destroying loose bowling. And all three combined, if they should fire together, will mean the champions may be staring at a seventh defeat in 10 games and the end of their title defence.

The key man, with the ball, is West Indian spinner Sunil Narine. He has a stunning economy rate of under six runs per over in this form of the game, which is an excellent return. The fact he has regularly picked up wickets is a massive boost and Gambhir will need the Caribbean star to fire on all cylinders for the rest of the season.

South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis has not been his usual high-scoring reliable self this season but does manage to make key contributions - his 2/14 off four overs and a measured 37 off 33 balls led Kolkata to the six wicket win over Kings XI Punjab (the only win in the last five games).

Team Form

Delhi Daredevils