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A captivating encounter in store

Nandakumar Marar

Daredevils will feel the heat against Warne’s Royals in the first semifinal

— Photo: K. Pichumani

WORDS OF WISDOM: Dennis Lillee gives tips to Delhi Daredevils’ Glenn McGrath and Mohammad Asif during a practice session in Mumbai on Thursday.

MUMBAI: Winning has become a habit with Rajasthan Royals in the DLF-Indian Premier League. It has won 11 out of the 14 games, home and away. Losses revealed the team’s character as captain Shane Warne herded the side back on course. Each reverse was followed by a string of victories. Delhi Daredevils, squaring up to the league-topper in the first semifinal, will feel the heat.

Royals began the league phase with a nine wicket away loss to Delhi, but won the next five matches in a row. Mumbai Indians pricked the Warne bubble in the seventh game, inflicting a seven wicket defeat on the visitor. Royals bounced back to win six consecutive games, surged so far ahead in the points tally that a semifinal slot became a formality.

Psychological ploy

Warne sat out of the concluding league game against Kings XI Punjab as a psychological ploy in case both sides meet again in the final. He will be smarting for action and Delhi Daredevils is an opponent worthy enough to rouse the competitive instincts in the Aussie spin legend, whose player-handling skill has been one of the highlights of the IPL.

Neeraj Patel’s bold batting against Mumbai Indians, the victory coming off the final ball in the 20th over, is the latest example of the astonishing self-belief Warne has managed to infuse in his players, starting with opener Swapnil Asnodkar, hard-hitting Yusuf Pathan, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and pace spearhead Sohail Tanvir.

The Aussie’s spin still carries enough fizz to test the explosive Daredevils’ batting line-up featuring Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik. Warne’s knack of sizing up opponents and working out ways to neutralise them makes Friday’s semifinal at the Wankhede stadium so captivating.

Daredevils can be put under pressure if the batsmen misfire, so the Royals skipper’s handling of bowling resources takes the contest for a final place beyond a test of mere cricketing skills. Pakistan paceman Tanvir (IPL’s best strike bowler with 21 wickets) can test batsmen with variations and angles, Aussie all-rounder Shane Watson is nippy, Indian spinners Pathan and Jadeja can perform according to the needs of the situation.

Plenty of firepower

Royals batsmen, guided by the steady South African opener Graeme Smith, has the firepower in Asnodkar, Pathan and Watson to pile on runs against a formidable Daredevils attack, comprising the accurate Glenn McGrath, lively Farveez Maharoof, Yomahesh and leg-spinner Amit Mishra as the specialists, backed by seamer Rajat Bhatia and part-timer Sehwag.

McGrath excelled (4-1-21-1 and 4-0-12-0) on both the occasions when the two teams met in the league stage. He remains a threat to Warne’s ambition. The lanky Aussie can hit the right length straightaway and curb audacious strokeplay.

The stranglehold exerted by Mumbai Indians’ seamers over Royals in the league game in Mumbai presents Daredevils captain Sehwag with a plan of action.

The teams (from): Rajasthan Royals: Shane Warne (capt.), Swapnil Asnodkar, Graeme Smith, Yusuf Pathan, Shane Watson, Mohd. Kaif, Mahesh Rawat, Ravindra Jadeja, Sohail Tanvir, Siddharth Trivedi, Munaf Patel, Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal, Dinesh Salunkhe, Neeraj Patel and Morne Morkel.

Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag (capt.), Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, A.B. de Villiers, Rajat Bhatia, Dinesh Karthik, Glenn McGrath, Mohd. Asif, Yomahesh, Pradeep Sangwan, Farveez Maharoof, Amit Mishra, Tillekaratne Dilshan, Manoj Tiwary, Brett Geeves and Shoaib Malik.

Match starts at 8 p.m.

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