Bangalore Royal Challengers
vs
Delhi Daredevils
Port Elizabeth, 26 April 2009
Match Begins 16:00 IST | 12:30 SA | 10:30 GMT
A campaign that began so brightly with a 92-run victory for Bangalore Royal Challengers has gone into freefall. Since that victory against Rajasthan Royals, Bangalore have suffered three consecutive defeats and languish in the bottom half of the league. In order to end the losing streak in Port Elizabeth, Bangalore will have upset the Delhi Daredevils, considered by many to be favourites for the title.
Bangalore's worries stem from a top order that has failed to make use of the Powerplay overs by losing too many wickets. Their best performance during the first six overs was 49 for 3 against Kings XI Punjab on Friday. They are facing a problem similar to the one in the inaugural season where the overseas players failed to make a significant contribution. Their best batsman has been Rahul Dravid, with 144 runs at an average of 36, but he's begun most of his innings with Bangalore already in deep trouble.
Bangalore's bowlers haven't been in top form either - they've managed to take only 20 wickets in four games, 11 in the last three - and they are up against perhaps the most in-form batting line-up of the tournament. Delhi suffered a crippling blow against Chennai Super Kings, losing both Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir cheaply, and few would have expected their overseas batsmen, AB de Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan, to perform the way they did. They batted with methodical aggression and have reduced the dependency on Sehwag for posting huge scores.
