Delhi Daredevils, riding high on a hat-trick of wins, and Kolkata Knight Riders, who are virtually out from the race of semis, faced each other for the first time in the competition on Tuesday and Brendon McCullum's men, without a win for the past seven matches, were completely outplayed by the Delhi side.
Nannes effect
A rookie pacer in Dirk Nannes has done the job for it with the ball and Delhi has been more than happy to give him a spot in the playing XI ahead of McGrath.
Collingwood, meanwhile, never seemed required in a line-up that already boasts of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, David Warner and Tillakaratne DilshanNothing going the right way
Kolkata, on the other hand, are in desperate search for that one match winner who can turn things around for the beleaguered side, which lies at the bottom of the table. The pressure of captaincy seems to have silenced McCullum's bat significantly and Sourav Ganguly too has not come up with anything extraordinary so far.
The explosive Chris Gayle is gone and the only positive development for the side in a while is the availability of Australian David Hussey, who is expected to be inducted immediately into the struggling line-up.
Poor batting has meant that the bowlers have had very little role to play in deciding the Kolkata's fortune even though the likes of Ishant Sharma have not done too bad.
Delhi in good shape
On current form, Delhi, semifinalists last year, are certain to make the cut even this time around. In contrast, Kolkata are fighting a grim battle to avoid being at the bottom of the heap.
The contrasting form makes Delhi an overwhelming favourites and it would be nothing short of a stunner if Kolkata manage to pull off that elusive win.
Approaching milestones:
Gautam Gambhir (693) needs 38 runs more to become the leading run-getter in the IPL and to overtake Suresh Raina's tally of 730.
- Ashish Nehra (24) needs one wicket to complete 25 wickets in the IPL. He is the leading wicket-taker for Delhi Daredevils in the IPL.
- Tillakaratne Dilshan requires 52 runs more to become the third batsman after Matthew Hayden (426) and Suresh Raina (309) to complete 300 runs in the 2009 edition of the IPL.
Head to head:
| P | W | L | NR | Win% | |
| Delhi | 22 | 13 | 9 | | 59.09 |
| vs Kolkata | 2 | 1 | 1 | | 50.00 |
| Kolkata | 21 | 7 | 13 | 1 | 33.33 |
| vs Delhi | 2 | 1 | 1 | | 50.00 |
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