Delhi Daredevils eye semi-final berth in clash against Perth Scorchers

 

 A star-studded Delhi Daredevils will be up against the experience of Perth Scorchers in its bid to close in on a semifinal berth when the two sides clash in a group A match of the Champions League Twenty20.

After winning their tournament-opener, second-placed Delhi's cricketers were left to warm the benches as rain washed out their second game against Auckland Aces in Johannesburg last night.



Perth Scorchers, on the other hand, are lying bottom of the heap with a loss and a couple of points from Thursday's wash-out.



They desperately need to win tomorrow to have any chance of staying afloat in the tournament.



Delhi dominated their IPL counterparts Kolkata Knight Riders in their first match in the competition. Though their batsmen didn't put up the best show, the team posted a competitive total, which their pace quartet successfully defended.



In David Warner, skipper Mahela Jayawardene, Virender Sehwag, Kevin Pietersen and Ross Taylor, the Delhi Daredevils have four proven match-winners.



Add to the mix, teen sensation Unmukt Chand and Delhi seem to have five impact players.



Their bowling attack too is lethal and capable of giving the best batting line-ups sleepless nights. Morne Morkel's ability to generate bounce and knowledge of local conditions, makes him quite a handful.



Irfan Pathan has regained some of his lost touch and the young Umesh Yadav has also been relishing the conditions in South Africa.



The Perth Scorchers, meanwhile, will look to their top order to do bulk of the run-scoring.



In Herschelle Gibbs, Marcus North and Shaun Marsh, Perth have a lot of firepower and experience at the top.



While Gibbs was the second-highest run-getter for them in their Big Bash League campaign, behind Mitchell Marsh's tally of 309 runs, skipper North was not too far behind with an aggregate of 273 runs in eight innings.



The bowling department lacks a big name except for the veteran spinner Brad Hogg and for this reason alone, their batsmen will have to set the match for them.  (PTI)



Teams:



Delhi Daredevils (Probable): Mahela Jayawardene (c), Virender Sehwag, Unmukt Chand, Kevin Pietersen, Naman Ojha (wk), Ross Taylor, Pawan Negi, Morne Morkel, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Umesh Yadav.



Perth Scorchers (Probable):  Herschelle Gibbs, Marcus North (c), Luke Ronchi (wk), Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Simon Katich, Nathan Rimmington, Joe Mennie, Brad Hogg, Michael Beer, Nathan Coulter-Nile.



Time:  13.30 locacl (17.00 IST)