IPL 2018: Rating the teams after their first two games
All eight franchises of the Indian Premier League have contested in two games each in the eleventh edition of the tournament till now. While two teams have extracted all four points from these encounters, four have one win and one loss in their campaign so far.
Two teams at the bottom of the table have lost both the matches and have not been able to open their account as of yet. Let us look at the overall effort from all the eight teams and rate them accordingly:
#8 Delhi Daredevils: 4/10
The Daredevils have struggled to make their mark on this tournament in the last decade and they have not started the IPL on a great note this time as well. Despite roping in a successful captain in Gautam Gambhir and a proven mentor in Ricky Ponting, the Delhi-based franchise have failed to hit the ground running.
They lost their first game to Kings XI Punjab, thanks to the onslaught from KL Rahul at the top of the order, where he raced to a 14-ball 50. After that, Gambhir and Co. travelled to Jaipur to take on the Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Wednesday (April 11).
Therein, they fell to the inconsistency of the DLS method. The Royals had scored 153-5 in 17.5 before rain played spoilsport in the first innings. When the downpour finally ceded, the visitors had to score 70 runs in just 6 overs to win the game. DD could never get going with the bat and folded at 60-4 in the 36 deliveries they faced.
They will now play against the Mumbai Indians, who have also suffered two back-to-back losses so far. However, the teams will be contesting at the Wankhede Stadium, which will make it all the more difficult for the Daredevils to open their account this year.