Pune's Unadkat value to shine again with ball

Delhi Daredevils v Rising Pune Supergiant
Sky Sports 3, 3.30pm Friday

Delhi cannot qualify for the IPL knockout stages but third-placed Rising Pune Supergiant will not be taking anything for granted when they visit the Feroz Shah Kotla.

The Daredevils couldn’t make the top four on Wednesday, when they chased down 196 to beat Gujarat Lions in Kanpur.

And while Steve Smith’s charges made it four wins on the spin on Saturday in Hyderabad against the Sunrisers, it was something of a squeeze. Pune somehow eked out a total of 148 and then defended it despite the Sunrisers reaching 83-2.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes did the early damage with the ball for Pune in Hyderabad with 3-30 but left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat secured the success and the man-of-the-match award with 5-30 and he is worth backing to be the visitors’ top wicket-taker again.

Unadkat is clearly in a groove as he took 2-28 against the Kolkata Knight Riders and 3-29 against the Lions in the preceding two games. And while most of these wickets have come towards the end of opponents’ innings, Knight Riders pinch-hitter Sunil Narine was a notable first-over scalp. Narine smashed a 16-ball 50 in his next outing in Bangalore.

A drab day is forecast for Dublin but spinner Shakib Al-Hasan still looks worth a bet to be the top Bangladesh wicket-taker in the first ODI of a tri-series including New Zealand.

Ireland’s batsmen struggled to cope with the leg-spin of Adil Rashid and gentle off-breaks of Joe Root in both their 50-over defeats to England last week.

In the One-Day Cup, take Worcestershire to bounce back from Wednesday’s heavy first defeat in the North Group against Warwickshire at New Road.

The Rapids have won both previous home outings against Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. The eliminated Bears began the defence of their 50-over crown with an easy win over Northants but have lost five in a row since.

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