Yuvraj Singh and his team started strong and were then laid low by a few poor performances that saw them down to the second last spot on the points table with just 11 points to their credit. What they are looking at today is a massive leap from there into the top four, and they couldn’t have asked for a tougher opponent. If they do by some luck manage to stop the charging Daredevils, that will be only the first hurdle scaled. After that they still have 3 top teams to compete against to make it to the semis. But Delhi itself is going to be the biggest challenge considering the way they have been performing through this season.

Both their bowling and batting departments have been flawlessly harmonized and that itself makes them a tough nut to crack. Their opening combinations, middle order and bowling combinations seem perfectly well set. While on the other hand needs to rethink their batting and fast. Yuvraj Singh will have to be prepared to pull a lone-ranger act with the bat, at least now after he has been rather indifferent through the season. Team Punjab is no short of talent; they just don’t seem to be applying enough.

As for their bowling, it has undoubtedly been their biggest let-down, especially Sreesanth with 2 wickets from 4 matches and an economy rate of 10.69. He may have to sit out and make way for Yusuf Abdulla, Punjab’s highest wicket taker yet. Vikramjeet Malik may be included as well, to support Abdulla. It’s their performance today that will decide whether Punjab can stand or if it will wither in front of Delhi.

As for Delhi, complacency may be their biggest weakness, and a look at how Gilchrist and Symonds almost trashed the daylights out of their bowling will reveal a few weaknesses there too. Maybe Punjab can capitalize on that. They don’t have much choice considering that a loss is equivalent to a one-way ticket out of the IPL.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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