Royals host Daredevils in first home game

Rajasthan Royals will be confident of getting a result when they host Delhi Daredevils in their first home fixture on Monday.

The Royals fought hard against Mumbai in their opening encounter with Yusuf Pathan scoring the quickest century of the tournament and nearly taking them over the line. The Royals would be disappointed with their overall showing though, as they were dominated in almost every department by the hosts. Shaun Tait had a nightmare opening game and might well be dropped from the eleven. The middle order seems a bit weak and they are missing a quality all-rounder in Shane Watson. Shane Warne failed to make an impact with the ball as well. The positives were Graeme Smith’s innings at the top followed by Paras Dogra’s effort in the later stages of the match. The Royals will be hoping to find the right balance in the side for this crucial tie against Delhi.

The Daredevils are going into this contest on the back of a win against Kings XI in their opener. They look a much better balanced squad in comparison to their opponents. Dirk Nannes, Farveez Maharoof and Yo Mahesh did extremely well in the bowling department and were supported well by the spinners. They had a decent outing as far as their fielding is concerned and restricted the Kings XI side to a smallish total. Gautam Gambhir was in excellent touch and led his side to victory but the only concern would be the disappointing performance of the remaining top order batsmen, who gave away their wickets cheaply. They would be looking to change that in tonight’s game.