Deccan Chargers will be gunning for revenge when they lock horns with table-toppers Delhi Daredevils in IPL on Wednesday.

The six-wicket defeat in their previous encounter against Delhi not only snapped the Hyderabad side's winning spree but also triggered a mid-event slump.

Having swept aside Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings with consummate ease, Adam Gilchrist's men clearly looked the most high-flying squad before the Daredevils grounded them.

The six-wicket defeat with eight balls to spare not only snapped Deccan's winning streak but also marked the start of a wretched stretch with three defeats on the trot.

They lost to Kings XI Punjab as well, sandwiched by the wins against Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals, and with the race for the semifinal berths hotting up, Gilchrist and his men simply cannot afford to slip.

Sehwag to be back

Meanwhile, if revenge would be on Deccan's agenda in Durban's Kingsmead stadium on Wednesday, the Daredevils would hope their winning streak to continue as they plan to cement their place at the top of the points table.

Seven wins in nine outings, most of them comprehensive victories, speaks volumes of Delhi's balance and this too at a time when regular skipper Virender Sehwag missed much of the latest action with a finger injury.

Stand-in skipper Gautam Gambhir hinted that Sehwag would be available for Wednesday's match, which might cost in-form David Warner his place at the top of the batting order. With AB de Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan in the middle order, Delhi's batting might is beyond question while Dirk Nannes, Ashish Nehra and Amit Mishra's wicket-taking ability lends perfect balance to the side.

Bowling a worry for Deccan

In contrast, Deccan batting relies too much on Gilchrist and his opening partner Herschelle Gibbs even though Rohit Sharma has made handy contributions in most of their wins.

In their previous encounter, Nannes cheaply removed both Gilchrist and Gibbs to set the tone for Delhi's facile victory and the team would expect the left-arm pacer to continue his rich vein of form that has reduced someone like Glenn McGrath to a bench-warmer.

Gilchrist, however, would take heart from last night's victory against the Royals and expect his bowlers to replicate the same show against Delhi.

For the Chargers, RP Singh has donned the purple cap and is among the highest wicket-taker, while Chaminda Vaas proved yesterday that he still has some aces up his sleeves.

In the spin department, Pragyan Ojha has been more than a handful, while Rohit's part-time off-spin has been quite handy.

Approaching milestones

- Delhi Daredevils would be aiming for their fourth win in as many matches against Deccan Chargers - their previous three wins over Deccan being by 9 wickets at Hyderabad at Hyderabad and by 12 runs at Delhi last year and by six wickets at Centurion Park.  
- Gautam Gambhir (711) needs 20 runs more to surpass Suresh Raina's aggregate of 730.
- Adam Gilchrist (701) requires 30 runs to become the leading run-getter in the IPL.
- Abraham de Villiers (271) needs 29 runs more to become the first batsman from Delhi Daredevils to complete 300 runs in the second edition of the IPL.

Head to head