Delhi Daredevils vs. Bangalore, IPL: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview
The Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore meet in the 26th match of the 2015 Indian Premier League season on Sunday, with both sides aiming to push into the upper reaches of the points table.
Date: Sunday, April 26
Time: 3:30 p.m. BST / 8 p.m. local
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Venue: Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Live On: Sky Sports (United Kingdom), Sony Max & Six (Indian Subcontinent), OSN Cricket (Middle East and North Africa), SuperSport (South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa), ESPN (U.S.), Now TV (Hong Kong), StarHub & Singtel (Singapore), IMC SportsMax (Caribbean)
Live Stream: Sky Go (United Kingdom)
Weather: The Weather Channel is forecasting a fine and very hot day in Delhi, with a scorching afternoon top of 38 degrees Celsius cooling to 27 in the evening.
Overview
For the past two seasons of the IPL, both the Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore have been among the tournament's strugglers.
Delhi, it's felt, have lacked the necessary firepower; Bangalore, though star-studded, have been the competition's major underachievers.
And in the opening stages of the current season, those themes appeared set to continue when the Daredevils lost their first two and RCB dropped three of their opening four.
But recent outings have changed the narrative somewhat.
For Sunday's hosts, three veterans and one junior have turned it around, with JP Duminy, Angelo Mathews, Yuvraj Singh and Shreyas Iyer steering Delhi to wins in three of their last four. And with Imran Tahir continuing to pick up wickets at a rapid rate, Duminy's men, with a victory on Sunday, could reinforce their credentials for a top-four place.
Bangalore, meanwhile, put aside three games of frustration and secured an emphatic nine-wicket victory over tournament front-runners Rajasthan on Friday.
Led by the superb Mitchell Starc, who's recently returned from injury, Virat Kohli's powerful side put together the sort of complete performance we all know they're capable of but isn't seen anywhere near enough.
But that victory over the Royals could be the platform for a strong run for RCB, who, if they can get on a roll, could be incredibly difficult to stop given their XI possesses perhaps four of the competition's best 10 players.
The first step: secure back-to-back victories by winning on Sunday.
Form Lines
| W: 37 runs vs. Mumbai Indians | W: 9 wickets vs. Rajasthan Royals |
| L: 6 wickets vs. Kolkata Knight Riders | L: 27 runs vs. Chennai Super Kings |
| W: 4 runs vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad | L: 18 runs vs. Mumbai Indians |
| W: 5 wickets vs. Kings XI Punjab | L: 8 wickets vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| L: 3 wickets vs. Rajasthan Royals | W: 3 wickets vs. Kolkata Knight Riders |
| L: 1 run vs. Chennai Super Kings |
Points Table
| Rajasthan Royals | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | +0.140 |
| Chennai Super Kings | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | +0.948 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | +0.310 |
| Delhi Daredevils | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | +0.229 |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -0.096 |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -0.270 |
| Kings XI Punjab | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -0.361 |
| Mumbai Indians | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -0.830 |
Predicted XIs
| Mayank Agarwal | Chris Gayle |
| Shreyas Iyer | Virat Kohli |
| JP Duminy | AB de Villiers |
| Angelo Mathews | Mandeep Singh |
| Yuvraj Singh | Dinesh Karthik |
| Kedar Jadhav | Sarfaraz Khan |
| Nathan Coulter-Nile | David Wiese |
| Amit Mishra | Harshal Patel |
| Shahbaz Nadeem | Mitchell Starc |
| Imran Tahir | Iqbal Abdulla |
| Domnic Muthuswami | Yuzvendra Chahal |
Players to Watch
In Delhi's six games to date, Yuvraj Singh has only got going once with the bat, when he reached a smooth 54 to steer the Daredevils home against Kings XI Punjab in the tournament's opening stages.
But we've often seen what the left-hander is capable of in this format, with two of his onslaughts in last season's IPL (one of which was a 29-ball 68 against Delhi) showcasing how brutal Yuvraj can be when he finds form.
Could Sunday witness something close to his best?
For Bangalore, AB de Villiers is always one to watch, but for this match even more so than usual.
Indeed, in RCB's victory over Rajasthan on Friday, the South African was elevated from his customary position at five up to three.
It meant Bangalore's top three read: Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and De Villiers.
Scary.
Against the Royals, the small target of only 131 didn't force that trio into top gear, but if they bat first on Sunday and De Villiers is once again deployed among the top order, sustained carnage could be on the cards.
Odds (via OddsChecker)
Delhi Daredevils: 13/10
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 4/6
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