Defending champions Rajasthan Royals would look to set one foot on the semifinal spot with a win against Delhi Daredevils.

Boosted by the remarkable come-from-behind victory over Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals would be looking for a convincing victory in their Indian Premier League match on Sunday.

Warne must inspire his team

Thanks to their thrilling two-run victory over Mumbai Indians on Thursday, the Shane Warne-led side are on the third spot in the IPL chart with 13 points and they need a win to get their nose ahead as five teams chased three semifinal berths.

On the other hand, the Daredevils, who have already made it to the semifinals with 16 points from 11 matches, would not want to establish a losing streak ahead of the semifinals as had been articulated by their captain Virender Sehwag.

Delhi’s strong batting line up crumbled against Brett Lee and Co. of Kings XI Punjab but that may not happen every match.

Warne himself, who despite being injured led the team from the front in their victory against Mumbai Indians, can bring out something from his old bag of tricks but more than that he will have to inspire his other bowlers if his side thinks of restricting Delhi to a low total.

Pacers Kamran Khan and Amit Singh were unavailable due to suspect bowling action but Warne can put faith on Munaf Patel who denied Delhi four runs from the last over by taking one wicket and effecting two run-outs.

In batting department, Rob Quiney’s return among runs up the order against Mumbai was an encouraging sign but Graeme Smith’s form remains a big concern and Warne would be looking towards the South African skipper to fire against Delhi on Sunday.

Young Ravindra Jadeja has been the lone spark in Rajasthan’s shakky middle-order while Yusuf Pathan and Naman Ojha have been off-colour in the last few matches.

Delhi batsmen will look to rectify their timid show

Delhi batsmen, on the other hand, would be eyeing to rectify their timid show against Kings XI with a not-so-impressive Rajasthan bolwing attack giving their opening duo of Gautam Gambhir and Sehwag the ideal chance to get back to form.

Delhi’s bowling department still looked impressive with the likes of Pradeep Sangwan, Rajat Bhatia, Ashish Nehra, Dirk Nannes and Amit Mishra doing decent jobs despite the failure against Kings XI.

But having already qualified for the semifinals, Delhi skipper Sehwag might be tempted to give Australian legend Glenn McGrath, who had been warming the bench so far, a go against Rajasthan on Sunday.

Approaching milestones

Delhi Daredevils vs. Rajasthan Royals

- Delhi Daredevils, after their nine-wicket win in the first ever encounter at Feroz Shah Kotla, have lost the next three against Rajasthan Royals.

- Delhi would try their best to break Rajasthan’s winning sequence against them.

- Gautam Gambhir (738) needs 62 runs to become the second batsman after Adam Gilchrist (808) to complete 800 runs in the IPL.

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