Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals, played at Mumbai, Friday 30th May

The first semi final pits Shane Warne’s Royals against Virender Sehwag’s mercurial Daredevils.   It’s a 1st vs 4th situation, with the Royals notching a table topping record of 11 wins and 3 losses against Delhi’s 7 wins, 6 losses and a no-result, which ultimately saw them creep through to the knockout stages just ahead of Mumbai....

Looking back at games played between the two sides, Rajasthan beat Delhi at home by three wickets in a game with all manner of incidents - most notably a match winning innings from Shane Watson - while Delhi stuffed Rajasthan in the first game, back in IPL match 3, by 9 wickets.  

That was a forgettable performance in which Rajasthan contrived to have two early run outs and their middle order was underpinned by the hopelessly out of practise Darren Lehmann; so this performance can be ruled out for form purposes.

Since then, the only major departure has been Vettori from the Daredevils, while in terms of arrivals, Rajasthan have been boosted by two 20/20 stars, Graeme Smith and Sohail Tanvir, plus opener Swapnil Asnodkar has come through as a real weapon for the Royals.  

Both Smith and Tanvir were rested with minor injury niggles from the last game, and should be back at full speed for the semifinal contest.

 Sehwag

Delhi have had the most effective opening batting combination in the tournament, with Indian duo Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir laying waste to attacks throughout the competition...