Chennai Look To Bounce Back[/b]
Handed a shock defeat in their tournament opener, former champions Chennai Super Kings would be eager to bounce back against a resurgent Delhi Daredevils in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
There is still suspense on Kevin Pietersen, who missed the first two matches of the Delhi Daredevils because of a finger injury. The dashing batsmen came out to bat in the nets on Sunday although there was no official word on his availability for the match against Chennai Super Kings. Chennai lost to Kings XI Punjab by six wickets on Friday despite posting a mammoth 205. The two- time champions were found wanting in the bowling department as Punjab chased down the target with seven balls to spare.
Delhi, on the other hand, got their act together against Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday after the huge loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore in their opening match. Super Kings' batting seemed to be in good touch with openers Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum smashing fine half-centuries. But the bowling fell apart spectacularly in the face of a brutal onslaught by Glenn Maxwell and David Miller. Neither the pace of Ashish Nehra nor Mohit Sharma caused any discomfort to the rivals. Even senior off- spinner Ravichandran Ashwin failed to come good in Chennai's unexpected defeat. Their batting, which produced a shoddy display in the absence of an injured Kevin Pietersen in the opening match, came across much better in the second game. Delhi had also opened their campaign with a loss but recovered rather quickly by beating Kolkata.
Highlights of the effort were half centuries by Captain Dinesh Karthik and South African import JP Duminy while chasing a fairly competitive 167 for victory. They too have their share of bowling woes to deal with and it could well be a batsmen's game when the two sides clash.
Handed a shock defeat in their tournament opener, former champions Chennai Super Kings would be eager to bounce back against a resurgent Delhi Daredevils in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
There is still suspense on Kevin Pietersen, who missed the first two matches of the Delhi Daredevils because of a finger injury. The dashing batsmen came out to bat in the nets on Sunday although there was no official word on his availability for the match against Chennai Super Kings. Chennai lost to Kings XI Punjab by six wickets on Friday despite posting a mammoth 205. The two- time champions were found wanting in the bowling department as Punjab chased down the target with seven balls to spare.
Delhi, on the other hand, got their act together against Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday after the huge loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore in their opening match. Super Kings' batting seemed to be in good touch with openers Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum smashing fine half-centuries. But the bowling fell apart spectacularly in the face of a brutal onslaught by Glenn Maxwell and David Miller. Neither the pace of Ashish Nehra nor Mohit Sharma caused any discomfort to the rivals. Even senior off- spinner Ravichandran Ashwin failed to come good in Chennai's unexpected defeat. Their batting, which produced a shoddy display in the absence of an injured Kevin Pietersen in the opening match, came across much better in the second game. Delhi had also opened their campaign with a loss but recovered rather quickly by beating Kolkata.
Highlights of the effort were half centuries by Captain Dinesh Karthik and South African import JP Duminy while chasing a fairly competitive 167 for victory. They too have their share of bowling woes to deal with and it could well be a batsmen's game when the two sides clash.