After a pleasing Sunday for all cricket fans, we move to the Dubai International Stadium for the clash between Royals Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Delhi Capitals (DC). The two teams, who have never won the trophy, are going through a purple patch in this tournament with 3 wins in 4 games. Whoever ends up on the right side of today’s match, will also dethrone Mumbai Indians from top of the table.
Both the teams have found unlikely heroes who have played an immense role in their success. While the youngster Devdutt Paddikal has been brilliant for RCB at the top and has 3 fifties in 4 games, Anrich Nortje as a replacement has worked wonders for the Delhi Capitals.
There is a stark difference in how the two teams operate on the bowling front. RCB’s strength lies in Yuzvendra Chahal and his wrong-uns, and Delhi’s pacers in Kagiso Rabada and Nortje have been their key weapons.
Both the sides look settled now and are already presenting a good case for a play-offs birth, with a good amount of wins up-front. But is it a classic case of starting off an IPL brilliantly, and fizzle out towards the end? Too soon to say.
The Delhi Capitals do have a couple of injury concerns coming into the game. Prithvi Shaw was hit with a throw in the last game and did not field. He was also limping during the presentation. Amit Mishra was also hit on his fingers while trying to grab a catch in his follow-through. If these two are indeed not fit, Ajinkya Rahane and Axar Patel will make it back to the eleven.
RCB might want to give Dale Steyn another game as pacers have found swing in Dubai upfront. If Virat Kohli and company do play him, he is likely to replace Adam Zampa. In Washington Sunder and Yuzvendra Chahal, RCB already have two spinners, and Delhi’s top order is quite proficient against spin.
Likely 11s
RCB: Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Shivam Dube, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Isuru Udana, Washington Sundar, Adam Zampa/Dale Steyn, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal
DC: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw/Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel/Amit Mishra, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje
