Delhi in desperate need for a win as they face Mumbai next

Their confidence severely dented after suffering six consecutive defeats, a struggling Delhi Daredevils have no more room for errors as they face Mumbai Indians in an IPL tie in New Delhi on Sunday.

Delhi desperately need a win against an inconsistent, but star-studded Mumbai Indians to have an outside chance to move ahead in the competition.

For the Daredevils, the table-toppers of the league phase last season, the end is fast approaching, having arrived at a stage where they have to win all their remaining matches. At the same time they have to pray for favours from other teams to nurture any hopes of qualifying for the play-offs.

Languishing at the bottom of the table, the Daredevils need nothing less than a miracle to turn things around in their favour and stay afloat in the championship.

The Daredevils have been hit hard by the failure of their batting department. Celebrated names like Virender Sehwag, David Warner and captain Mahela Jayawardene have failed miserably.

Instead of laying an ideal platform for a big score, they have struggled, which put pressure on their relatively inexperienced middle-order.

Sehwag, who is at the lowest ebb of his career, hasn't been able to live up to his reputation. He looked completely off-colour in the matches played so far after having missed the initial part of the competition due to a bout of back spasms.

The likes of Jeevan Mendis, Johan Botha and Andre Russell are good all-rounders but have failed to cope up with the constant pressure. Young wicketkeeper Kedar Jadhav and Manprit Juneja have managed to salvage a bit of respect with substantial contributions with the bat, but lacked support.

To add to it, the Daredevils have also been hit hard by the absence of Kevin Pietersen and New Zealander Jesse Ryder, who have been ruled out of this year's IPL due to injuries.

The Daredevils' bowlers are no better as they have also been inconsistent in the tournament so far. The likes of Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav, Irfan Pathan and Shahbaz Nadeem have performed only in patches.

On the other hand, having won three of their five games, Mumbai Indians are much better placed than their opponents. They presently occupy the fifth spot in the table with six points.

From the start, Mumbai have been underachievers in the Twenty20 league. Despite having big stars in their ranks, they have never been able to convert the early promise into a title win.

They finished runners-up in 2010, losing to Chennai Super Kings in the final.

Mumbai too will be low on confidence ahead of Sunday's encounter having suffering a humiliating 87-run loss at the hands of underdogs Rajasthan Royals in their last game.

Mumbai's lavish spending at the players' auction has ensured that they have greats like Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting in their ranks. The likes of Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga and Rohit Sharma only add to the outfit's strength.

But coming into Sunday's match, Mumbai will slightly worry about the form of their two greats --Tendulkar and skipper Ponting, who have so far failed to give a decent to MI's innings. Mumbai's million-dollar spending on Australian Glen Maxwell defies logic as he is yet to get a game in IPL 6.

Mumbai have been riding on wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik, who is presently second in the highest run-scorers list with 254 runs.

Rohit, too, is in good nick but has been inconsistent. He has so far amassed 157 runs with 74 being his highest.

With Malinga joining the squad, Mumbai's bowling wears a lethal look. Even though they struggled against Rajasthan the other day, the likes of Mitchell Johnson, Pragyan Ojha, Harbhajan Singh and Pollard give them the variety and options needed on any surface.

Teams (from):

Delhi Daredevils: Mahela Jayawardene (C), Ajit Agarkar, Andre Russell, Arisht Singhvi, Ashish Nehra, C M Gautam, David Warner, Gulam Bodi, Irfan Pathan, Jeevan Mendis, Johan Botha, Kedar Jadhav, Manpreet Juneja, Naman Ojha, Pawan Negi, Roelof van-der Morwe, Royston Dias, Siddharth Kaul, Sujit Nayak,Shahbaz Nadeem Umesh Yadav, Unmukt Chand, Venugopal Rao, Virender Sehwag and Yogesh Nagar.

Mumbai Indians: Ricky Ponting (C), Sachin Tendulkar, Dinesh Karthik, Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell Johnson Pragyan Ojha, Rishi Dhawan, Glenn Maxwell, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jaspreet Bumrah, Akshar Patel, Jalaj Saxena, Abu Nechim Ahmed, Aditya Tare, Aiden Blizzard, Amitoze Singh, Dhawal Kulkarni, Dwayne Smith, Jacob Oram, James Franklin, Javed Khan, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Phil Hughes, Pawan Suyal, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sushant Marathe.