Preview by Ghcalive Staff
an increasing At Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla stadium on Saturday (May 6), Royal Challengers Bangalore will face off against Delhi Capitals as they attempt to get into the top four.
After beginning the season with five straight defeats, DC has turned their season around with three victories in their last four games. They had defeated the reigning champion Gujarat Titans in a road encounter, keeping them to a respectable 130/8 in Ahmedabad. Similar patterns may be observed in the recent performance of RCB, who have won three of their last four games, including a low-scoring, emotionally charged match in Lucknow when their 126 proved to be far too much for the hosts. RCB has risen to fifth place and might enter the top four with a win over DC, who despite their recent surge are still tethered to the bottom of the business half of the competition’s standings.
DC has improved their season with three victories in their past four games after dropping their first five games in a row. They overcame the defending champion Gujarat Titans before the competition, holding them to a solid 130/8 in Ahmedabad. Similar trends can be seen in RCB’s recent performance, which includes three victories in their last four games and a low-scoring, emotionally packed match in Lucknow when their 126 proved to be far too much for the visitors. In the business half of the competition, where the playoff fight is becoming more intense, RCB has risen to fifth place and might move into the top four with a victory over DC, who, despite their recent improvement, are still firmly rooted in the bottom four.
DC benched Prithvi Shaw following a run of poor results, but the David Warner-Phil Salt tandem had only managed one run over the first three innings.
When DC was in their early-season slump, Warner was the team’s best batter, batting.500 in four of six games. However, in his last three outings, he has only scored 23 runs. In order to continue competing and being relevant in the league, the home club would anticipate seeing more of such fireworks. But he has a great record against the Royal Challengers Bangalore; in 21 games, he has scored 839 runs, which ties MS Dhoni for the most runs.
In contrast to DC’s meagre total of 143 runs at 15.89, RCB had the strongest opening duo of the year with captain and Orange Cap holder* Faf du Plessis (466) and Virat Kohli (364) combining for the most runs (566) at an average of 62.89. However, RCB is known for having a strong hitting lineup, and this season is no exception.
The fact that du Plessis, Kohli, and Glenn Maxwell have contributed an amazing 73.33% of RCB’s runs this season (excluding extras) demonstrates the team’s reliance on the trio too much, which DC would like to take advantage of. The middle order is under strain now that Rajat Patidar is gone, and RCB tried as many as six different players at number three before settling on Maxwell. Dinesh Karthik’s poor play has also contributed to four run-outs and two ducks in nine games, which has further hurt the batting.
Both Mohammed Siraj’s brilliant performance and Josh Hazewood’s superb recovery from injury, which helped them upset LSG by 18 runs, have enhanced RCB’s new-ball onslaught. With 22 wickets at an ER of 7.3 compared to DC’s 14 at 7.98 in Powerplay bowling results, they outperform their opponents and will enter Saturday’s encounter as the favourites.
When: Saturday, May 6 at 7:30 PM IST
Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
PITCH REPORT
One of the top T20 cricket venues in India is the Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium. Because the ball comes into the bat properly, batsmen may play here without concern. High-scoring games have occurred here before. Here, fast bowlers must use their variety to succeed, and the wicket offers excellent support for spinners.
How to prepare: Except for the low-scoring game against KKR, the average first-innings score thus far has been 177. In the most recent game played here, SRH was the only team to successfully defend a score, even though it was over average. Before the game, it will be a partly cloudy day with a low temperature in the late 20s.
Head-to-head: RCB has the lead over DC in their 29 IPL games, going 18-10 (with 1 no result). Six of the nine games played in Kotla have been won by the visitors. Bangalore has actually triumphed in six of their last seven games in Delhi; their lone defeat was in their most recent meeting in 2019.
Team News
Delhi Capitals
Mitch Marsh, who was unavailable for Delhi’s most recent game in Ahmedabad, is fit and available for selection against Bangalore. He should be made room for by Rilee Rossouw so that he may join the starting XI right away.
Matchups & Tactics: The contest between Maxwell and Kuldeep Yadav has the potential to be crucial. Throughout the history of the IPL, Maxwell was ousted four times by the DC spinner, but not before the Australian banged out 59 runs off of him in 22 deliveries, scoring at a rate of over 268.
Probable XI: David Warner (C), Philip Salt (wk), Mitch Marsh, Manish Pandey, Priyam Garg, Axar Patel, Ripal Patel, Aman Hakim Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Kedar Jadhav may be prepared for his RCB comeback in a location he once referred to as “home” after being among the select few who were allowed to tour the optional nets two days before the game.
Matchups & Tactics: This season, Mohammed Siraj has eight powerplay goals to go along with a first-six economy of just 5.4. When he encountered DC’s weak openers, the attention would be focused on him.
Probable XI: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (C), Anuj Rawat, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror/Suyash Prabhudessai, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Wanindu Hasaranga, Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood
Have you heard?
Kohli has to hit 12 runs to get a 1000 against DC and become the first IPL player to reach 7000 runs.
As the most prolific keeper in IPL history, Dinesh Karthik needs just one catch to tie MS Dhoni’s record (208) and two to exceed it.
Squads:
Delhi Capitals Squad: David Warner(c), Philip Salt(w), Manish Pandey, Rilee Rossouw, Priyam Garg, Axar Patel, Ripal Patel, Aman Hakim Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, Mitchell Marsh, Sarfaraz Khan, Lungi Ngidi, Praveen Dubey, Mukesh Kumar, Rovman Powell, Prithvi Shaw, Lalit Yadav, Chetan Sakariya, Yash Dhull, Vicky Ostwal, Abishek Porel
Royal Challengers Bangalore Squad: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Anuj Rawat, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik(w), Suyash Prabhudessai, Wanindu Hasaranga, Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood, Harshal Patel, Wayne Parnell, Siddarth Kaul, Kedar Jadhav, Michael Bracewell, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Finn Allen, Sonu Yadav, Manoj Bhandage, Shahbaz Ahmed, Akash Deep, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Himanshu Sharma
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