Delhi Capitals (DC), the 2020 runners-up, made a stupendous start to the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team, led by Rishabh Pant, decimated the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by seven wickets at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai after chasing down 189 runs
On the head-to-head count, both teams are locked on 11 wins each. The only time the teams met in Mumbai, the Royals managed to come out trumps.
But going into the next game, RR have been dealt with a body blow as their star all-rounder Ben Strokes has been ruled out due to a broken finger. The Royals would also need to sort their batting out if they have to avoid losing back-to-back matches.
Pitch Report
The pitch at the Wankhede Stadium has been an absolute belter for batting. Bowlers haven’t had much to cheer about while bowling on the batting paradise. The track isn’t expected to change in nature and batting second should be the way forward. The temperature would around the 30 degrees Celsius mark. The conditions would be clear with no chances of a downpour.
Rajasthan Royals have won 11 of their 22 games against Delhi Capitals, losing 11.
RR have won 11 of their 22 games against DC losing 11
The past 5 matches between the two teams were won by Delhi Capitals.Rishabh Pant has the most number of runs of the current players in this particular fixture
Rajasthan Royals
Jos Buttler, Manan Vohra, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shivam Dube, Liam Livingstone/David Miller, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman
Bench: Liam Livingstone/David Miller, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mahipal Lomror, Jaydev Unadkat, Andrew Tye, Anuj Rawat, Akash Singh, Jofra Archer, KC Cariappa, Mayank Markande, Kuldip Yadav, Kartik Tyagi
Delhi Capitals
Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Chris Woakes, Ravichandran Ashwin, Tom Curran, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan
Bench: Chris Woakes, Tom Curran, Praveen Dubey, Lukman Meriwala, Axar Patel, Ripal Patel, Manimaran Siddharth, Vishnu Vinod, Lalit Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Steve Smith
Probable best batsman of the match
Shikhar Dhawan- Delhi Capitals
Shikhar Dhawan has a decent record against the Royals. In 19 matches, the left-hander has scored 547 runs at an average and strike rate of 32.18 and 130.24 respectively. The southpaw has also scored six half-centuries with a top score of an unbeaten 78. Also, the fact that he scored an unbeaten 54-ball 85 against the Super Kings should keep him in pretty good stead.
Probable best bowler of the match
Mustafizur Rahman– Rajasthan Royals
Mustafizur Rahman, on his IPL return, didn’t have a great outing as far as numbers are concerned. In four overs, the Bangladesh pacer went for 45 runs and couldn’t get a wicket. But he could have easily gotten two and missed out due to an error of judgment in taking a DRS and a dropped catch. The Satkhira-born would again be expected to lead the bowling attack for RR.
WinDaddy has a strong conviction that the match 7 of the IPL T20 is clearly in the hands Of Delhi Capital as all the trending winds are sailing in their favour in today’s pitch. Let chase could make or break anybody’s fortune. Stay tuned.
