Delhi look to press on in playoffs quest Nair all for fearless brand of cricket

in the league. They had a strong first year, but have not been able to find that spark in IPL10.

There is no shortage of batting talent in the ranks. Any team that numbers Raina, Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch, Dwayne Smith and Dinesh Karthik in the line-up has to count as a threat but they have not fired as a unit, leaving them just inches away from elimination.

One more reversal — for either side, in fact — will spell finis to their playoffs hopes.

The Lions are here on the heels of consecutive losses including a heartbreaking Super Over defeat against Mumbai Indians at Rajkot, but with all to play for, the packed Kotla galleries could well be in for some fireworks with the bat, if nothing else. Delhi Daredevils stand-inskipper Karun Nair stressed on the significance of playing “fearless cricket”, a trait the young team were expected to show in plenty in this season’s Indian Premier League. Down and almost out after a string of five straight losses, Delhi youngsters delivered when it mattered stunning Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday night with a commanding victory that took them to sixth in the points table. “I think it was a great win,” Nair told iplt20.com later. “All we talked about is we, being a young team, should play like one. So, we just went out there and played fearlessly.” Nair, who led in the absence of injured pacer Zaheer Khan, scored a 20ball 39 to help Delhi scale down the 186-run target set by Sunrisers. “It was just the intent and we wanted to go out there and go after the bowling,” Nair said. “With the four of us being youngsters at the top of the order, (the idea was to) just go out there and smash the ball.” Chris Morris, who along with Corey Anderson saw Delhi home, credited the New Zealander for leading the way. “Having Corey Anderson on the other side smacking the ball off the middle was quite nice,” Morris said. “We were confident and were saying that if it’s in your arc and if it was in your area, smack it. And that’s the way we like to play cricket — confidence and smack a cricket ball. So, yeah, I think Corey Anderson (came up with a) masterclass in how to chase that score.”