With 3 wins from our first 4 games we have begun this season of IPL on a strong note. However up against Delhi Daredevils today, we have a tough task on our hand. Cricket being a numbers game, which are those digits that you need to keep an eye on in the evening. The answers are given below:
A Boundary for a century - Umesh Yadav missed the first two matches of this season, resting after a hectic international season. However the pacer announced himself in a big way on his comeback with figures of 4/33 against Kings XI Punjab, which happens to be his best performance in a KKR jersey. While he went wicketless in the next game against SRH, his pace and bounce troubled all the batsmen. Playing at a venue where he made his Test debut in 2011, Yadav needs 4 more wickets to reach the milestone of 100 wickets in T20s.
Dozen Delight - Robin Uthappa hasn’t opened in IPL 2017 till now with Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine taking his place. However he has looked at home at the crucial number three spot, winning the Man of the Match award for his pivotal 68 against SRH on Saturday. 12 more runs today and ‘Robbie’ would have reached the landmark of 3500 IPL runs. A fantastic achievement, as and when he reaches there, since only 5 batsmen (Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and David Warner) have achieved this feat in IPL history.
A 'leap' forward - Manish Pandey has been terrific for us this season, scoring 152 runs at a strike rate of 155.10 from four games. The middle-order batsman is just 29 short of 2000 IPL runs. Definitely, a ‘Leap’ forward for Pandey.
‘Two’ good – Our man for all seasons, Sunil Narine, has been his usual consistent self in IPL 2017 as well, maintaining an economy rate of 5.75 after four games. His habit of gunning down the best player in the opposition has given us rich dividends over the years. While the in-form Sanju Samson will be a threat for us, the fact that he has fallen prey to Narine twice in eighteen deliveries is definitely a great sign for us.
