Daredevils desperate to end barren run at home

For most teams, home advantage is something to look forward to. But the Delhi Daredevils are a rare exception.

Having suffered a run of nine consecutive defeats at the Feroz Shah Kotla, the Daredevils will be under pressure to break the jinx when they take on Mumbai Indians in their sixth match of the current Indian Premier League campaign here.

Delhi have had an inconsistent campaign so far. Their first four matches went down to the wire (two losses, two wins) before Kolkata Knight Riders outclassed them by six wickets at the Kotla on Monday. However, the Daredevils will take some comfort from the fact that their last win at home — back in 2013 — came against Mumbai.

They certainly have the firepower to overcome the struggling visitors. The batting combination has shown promise with young openers Shreyas Iyer and Mayank Agarwal doing well so far. J.P. Duminy, Manoj Tiwary and Yuvraj Singh then come in, bringing experience into play. The latter however, has yet to do justice to his reputation and will surely want to make amends on Thursday.

In the bowling depart- ment, Imran Tahir has spearheaded Delhi’s charge with 10 wickets in five matches. The South African has received good support from fellow legspinner Amit Mishra. Among the pacers, Dominic Joseph has done well although Nathan CoulterNile needs to find a little more consistency.

Mumbai, on the other hand, have had a terrible run so far with four losses and a solitary win in their five games.

The batsmen though, have the ability to trouble Delhi. The top order did well in their last game against Royal Challengers Bangalore with Lendl Simmons and Unmukt Chand scoring half-centuries. Skipper Rohit Sharma, who has been in good form, smashed a valuable 15-ball 42. Delhi will also be wary of the big hitting Kieron Pollard who can destroy any attack on his day.

Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is in top form, picking eight wickets from four games.