Rajasthan Royals eye a move up the table against second-placed Delhi Capitals

The Rajasthan Royals will be looking to notch up back-to-back wins when they take on the Delhi Capitals on Wednesday night in the Dream11 IPL 2020. The Royals sit 7th on the points table despite the victory in their previous game against the Sunrisers, although they have played and lost one less game than the two teams sitting directly above them in the points table. The Delhi Capitals on the other hand will be hoping that the defeat to the Mumbai Indians was just a minor blip in their season.

Rahul Tewatia has been the story of the Rajasthan Royals’ season. The all-rounder who shot to fame hitting Sheldon Cottrell for 5 sixes in an over has proved to be a consistent performer for the Royals. His tally of 189 runs is the second-best for the Royals, only behind Sanju Samson. With the ball, Tewatia is only second behind Jofra Archer in the wickets tally and has the second-best economy rate among RR bowlers in the Dream11 IPL 2020.

The Royals will be buoyed that it was their relatively unknown Indian contingent that won them the game against the Sunrisers. Rajasthan were well behind the eight ball when Riyan Parag and Rahul Tewatia came together in the middle. The 85-run partnership which took the team home from 78/5 will give the flamboyant players batting above them in the order confidence to play their natural game. The return of Ben Stokes has also given the team the right balance with the bat and the ball.

Delhi Capitals have had a slight hiccup in their otherwise impressive campaign. The injury to Rishabh Pant has forced them to bench Shimron Hetmyer and bring in Alex Carey. Ajinkya Rahane has come into the team in place of Rishabh Pant, which also changes the dynamics of their top 3; the onus now being on Shikhar Dhawan or Prithvi Shaw to take on a more attacking role while Rahane plays the anchor. Despite their loss in the previous game to the Mumbai Indians, the Capitals still look like a well-settled int with enough firepower in their ranks. 

Dhawan’s timely return to form augurs well for the Capitals. Stoinis has been a revelation at number 6, playing counter-attacking cricket typical of an Aussie. While Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje have been the standouts among the Delhi bowlers, R Ashwin and Axar Patel have been miserly. Axar Patel’s economy rate of 5.05 is the third-best in the Dream11 IPL 2020, only behind the RCB duo of Chris Morris and Washington Sundar.

The Royals could not crack the Delhi challenge the first time around, succumbing to a 46-run defeat in Sharjah. The larger outfields of Dubai await the two teams. Rajasthan might be feeling just that bit less fearful having finally won a game away from Sharjah when they overcame the Sunrisers' challenge.