Late Bloomers Looking for a Key Boost

In Saturday’s IPL match, the Royal Challengers Bangalore will take on the Delhi Capitals at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in Delhi.

The Delhi Capitals have turned their fortunes around after losing their first five games, winning three of their last four matches.

They come into this game with confidence after defending a low score of 130/8 in Ahmedabad to beat the Gujarat Titans.

RCB has also had a similar run, winning three of their last four games, including a low-scoring match against Lucknow, where their score of 126 was enough to beat the hosts.

Despite their recent form, Delhi still remain at the bottom of the table, while a win for RCB could potentially take them into the top four, as the race for the playoffs heats up in the second half of the tournament.

The Delhi Capitals know that they are in a must-win situation, with little room for error.

They need to win all of their remaining five matches to have a chance of qualifying for the playoffs.

However, this will require a significant improvement in their batting department.

So far, their success has been due to their combined bowling efforts, with an overall bowling economy of 8.35, which is the third-best in the season.

However, their troubles begin right from the opening pair. After dropping Prithvi Shaw due to a string of low scores, the David Warner-Phil Salt partnership has registered only a solitary run in three innings.

Delhi ranks second among the teams losing the most wickets in the PowerPlay this season (21, with KKR on 22), and Warner’s poor form is a cause of concern for the hosts.

David Warner, who started the season as DC’s best batsman during their early slump with four fifties in six games, has collected only 23 runs in the last three matches.

However, his record against RCB is impressive, having scored 839 runs in 21 games, which is joint-most alongside MS Dhoni, with an average of 44.16 and a strike-rate above 161.

The home side would be hoping to see more of those fireworks from Warner in their bid to stay alive and relevant in the competition.

In contrast, RCB has the best opening pair of the season with skipper and Orange Cap holder Faf du Plessis (466) and Virat Kohli (364), who have aggregated the highest runs (566) at an average of 62.89 as compared to DC’s meager tally of 143 at 15.89.

However, RCB has a reputation for being batting-heavy, and this season is no different.

RCB’s over-reliance on their top three batsmen is a significant weakness that DC could exploit.

Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, and Glenn Maxwell have contributed a staggering 73.33% of RCB’s runs this season, excluding extras.

However, RCB’s middle-order has struggled, with Rajat Patidar ruled out, and six different players tried at no.3.

Except for Maxwell, none of them has performed well. Additionally, Dinesh Karthik’s poor form has further weakened RCB’s batting.

Karthik has scored only 2 runs in nine games, and has been involved in four run-outs.

With Josh Hazlewood’s successful return from injury and Mohammed Siraj’s red-hot form, RCB’s new-ball attack has been further strengthened.

They have outclassed their opponents in Powerplay bowling returns, having taken 22 wickets at an economy rate of 7.3, compared to DC’s 14 wickets at 7.98.

As a result, RCB will enter Saturday’s contest as favorites.

The match between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore will be held on Saturday, May 6 at 7:30PM IST at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

The average first-innings score at this venue has been 177, except for one low-scoring game against KKR.

SRH is the only team so far to have successfully defended a score at this ground.

The weather is expected to be partly cloudy, with the temperature dropping to the late 20s by the time the game starts.

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इंडिया नॅशनल क्रिकेट टीम

“Head-to-head: RCB have the wood over DC with an 18-10 record in their 29-game IPL history (1 no result).

The same holds for the Kotla, where the visitors have won six out of nine games.

In fact, Bangalore have won six of their last seven matches in Delhi, their lone defeat coming in their last meeting in 2019.

Team News

Delhi Capitals

Mitch Marsh, who missed Delhi’s last game in Ahmedabad, is fit and available for selection against Bangalore.

He should be walking back into the XI right away with Rilee Rossouw making way.

Tactics & Match-ups: The Kuldeep-Maxwell battle could be a potential game-changer.

The DC spinner has dismissed Maxwell four times in IPL history, but not before the Australian has hammered 59 runs off him in 22 deliveries, striking at 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 was among the select few attending optional nets two days out from the game, and could be in line for his RCB comeback at a ground he once called ‘home’.

Tactics & Match-ups: Mohammed Siraj has struck eight times in powerplay this season, and boasts of an economy of just 5.4 in the first six overs. All eyes would be on him against DC’s misfiring openers.

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

Did you know?

• Kohli needs 12 runs to become the first batter to aggregate 7000 runs in the IPL, and 25 to complete 1000 against DC.
• Dinesh Karthik needs one catch to equal – and two to overtake – Dhoni’s record (208) as the most successful keeper in T20 cricket.

What they said?

“We need to control the run-rate in the middle overs. We are a good death bowling unit and start well with the ball. We know that RCB’s batting order is top-heavy. And if we can cause trouble early on, then we can restrict them to a manageable score.” – Delhi Capitals’ fast-bowling coach James Hopes”