Pune, Delhi fight for pride

May 19, 2013 - Irfan Haji

Pune Warriors will look upon their in-form skipper Aaron Finch and his opening partner Robin Uthappa for a good batting show aga

The contest between Pune Warriors India and Delhi Daredevils may be inconsequential with regard to the outcome of the Indian Premier League but the two eliminated sides have everything to play for at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium here on Sunday.

Both teams are on six points and have had a forgettable season. They will be playing for pride and more importantly, to avoid finishing last in their final match. Pune Warriors ended with four wins in the previous two seasons and they will aim to emulate that and look for a reversal of fortunes after the next auction.
Skipper Aaron Finch has displayed good form and his opening partner Robin Uthappa is also doing well. Manish Pandey found some late form with a match winning half century to send Kolkata Knight Riders out of the tournament. Yuvraj Singh has chipped in with 20s and 30s but is yet to play a big knock. The middle-order has been an area of concern for the hosts as they haven’t been able to capitalise after good starts from their openers. Continuous chopping and changing in the team hasn’t helped either and despite reaching the end of the tournament they still lack a settled combination.
Injuries to Michael Clarke before the start of the tournament and losing Marlon Samuels, Steven Smith, Ross Taylor and finally Mitchell Marsh during the tournament didn’t help their cause either.
Wayward bowling in the death continues to hurt them, and they were lucky to escape in the last game against KKR. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been consistent but no other bowler has been a regular for them. Pune however carry some momentum after breaking the nine-match losing streak.
Daredevils also have faced similar problems. Virender Sehwag, barring an unbeaten 95 against Mumbai Indians, hasn’t played a significant knock. He went down the order in the last game in losing cause against Kings XI Punjab and got some runs.
Skipper Mahela Jayewardene has struggled and Unmukt Chand hasn’t lived up to his potential. The journey from Chennai to Dharamsala and now Pune might have been tiring after a long tournament and that’s why they some players including Sehwag skipped optional practice on Saturday.
David Warner and Ben Rohrer have been good in the middle order but they have lacked support. The visitors may consider bringing back local boy Kedar Jadhav who scored a triple ton here in Ranji Trophy 2012-2013 season.
Morne Morkel hasn’t been in his elements while Ashish Nehra and Irfan Pathan have been inconsistent. Umesh Yadav has been good in patches. Nehra has played for Pune Warriors earlier so he will know the pitch well.

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