Tough task ahead for Delhi as they face formidable Chennai

Battered and bruised after five consecutive losses, Delhi Daredevils would look to infuse some life into their Indian Premier League campaign when they take on an inconsistent Chennai Super Kings in New Delhi on Thursday.

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Daredevils, who suffered a morale-shattering loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Super Over on Tuesday, would have to quickly get their act together.

The absence of key foreign players through injuries, especially the big-hitting Englishman Kevin Pietersen and New Zealander Jesse Ryder, has hurt the team's chances badly this season.

Languishing at the bottom of the points table in IPL-6, the Daredevils need nothing less than a miracle to turn things around in their favour to stay afloat in the championship.

A big worry for the team has been its batting, which has crumbled under pressure so far.

Virender Sehwag, who is at the lowest ebb of his career, hasn't been able to live up to his reputation. Although he got off to a good start against RCB on Tuesday with a 23-ball 25, he failed to inspire confidence among his teammates and has looked completely off colour so far in the competition.

The big-hitting Australian opener David Warner shone in the matches against Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians but failed to contribute substantially in the last two outings against Hyderabad and Bangalore.

Daredevils need their bat to do the talking in the remainder of the games if they want to revive their sagging fortunes.

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene began well with a fifty in the season-opener but hasn't contributed much since then.

Andre Russell and Johan Botha's combined tally reads a mere 20 runs in the first two matches.

The Daredevils also need their young guns to fire, as another defeat would make it extremely difficult for them to make the playoffs.

Naman Ojha, Manprit Juneja and Irfan Pathan will have to contribute more to the team's cause and shake off the disappointment of five consecutive losses.

The bowlers -- Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav, Irfan Pathan and Shahbaz Nadeem -- have done well for the Daredevils in their last two games and the hosts would like to see them continue in the same vein.

On the other hand, Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings are coming into this game having suffered a shocking 24-run defeat at the hands of laggards Pune Warriors.

Barring S Badrinath and Ravindra Jadeja, their batsmen failed miserably against the Warriors as they could only score 135 in 20 overs while chasing 160 to win.

Two-time champions, CSK are placed seventh on the points table, with four points from as many games.

But the visitors have resources in abundance and it will be interesting to see what strategy the Daredevils employ against a strong CSK.

As far as Chennai's bowling is concerned, they have both pacers and spinners who not only can take wickets, but also check the flow of runs.

Chris Morris and Bravo did a good job against Pune to stem the run flow after Finch's assault at the top. Bravo has always been a handy all-rounder. And with Albie Morkel also in the ranks, it only adds to Chennai's strengths.

Teams (from):

Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (c/wk), Srikkanth Anirudha Baba Aparajith, Ravichandran Ashwin, Subramaniam Badrinath, Dwayne Bravo, Akila Dananjaya, Faf du Plessis, Ben Hilfenhaus, Jason Holder, Michael Hussey, Imtiaz Ahmed, Ravindra Jadeja, Shadab Jakati, R Karthikeyan, Nuwan Kulasekara, Ben Laughlin, Ronit More, Albie Morkel, Chris Morris, Dirk Nannes, Suresh Raina, Ankit Rajpoot, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Vijay Shankar, Mohit Sharma, Murali Vijay.