RCB eye spot in the top 3 as a resurgent Delhi Capitals host them for a weekend thriller

In a bid for an important jump into the top three positions on the IPL 2023 points table, the Royal Challengers Bangalore will be travelling to the distant shores of Delhi as a blockbuster battle between two sides of incredible strength and yet contrasting fates will be rocking the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Fifth-placed Royal Challengers Bangalore have so far secured five wins from the nine games that they have played while Delhi Capitals have registered three wins from the nine games that they have so far been a part of in IPL 2023.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore will be coming to this fixture on the back of a thrilling win against the Lucknow Super Giants in a low-scoring encounter. Faf du Plessis was the highest scorer for the Red and Gold Army with a 40-ball-44 while Virat Kohli dropped anchor at the other end to usher RCB to a warring total. In a clinical display by the bowlers led by Josh Hazlewood and Karn Sharma, RCB rode on a clinical show from the pair to register their fifth win of the tournament.

The Delhi Capitals will also be high on confidence as they took down the reigning champions, Gujarat Titans in another low-scoring drama. An unheralded Aman Hakim Khan top-scored with 51 from 44 balls while the Patel duo of Axar and Ripal added 50 runs collectively. Ishant Sharma produced an absolute masterclass to allow Delhi to set up a phenomenal win over the Gujarat Titans.

A win for the Royal Challengers Bangalore would catapult them to at least third place on the points table considering their tally of 12 points (if they win) which would be higher than the other teams stuck on 10 and 11 points. The last time these two teams met, RCB walked away with the bragging rights after a fine display from their bowlers that came on the back of a thumping batting imposition in the first innings.

Venue Watch

A total of 13 T20Is have been played out in the stadium with the average score batting first being 139 while the average score batting second being that of 133. The numbers are clearly a giveaway of the fact that this is going to be another modest scoring encounter. The new ball would produce some sharp movement but going by the conditions, the team batting first would have a slight edge over their counterparts.

Personal battles to watch out for:

Faf du Plessis vs Ishant Sharma

Leading the race for the Orange Cap, Faf du Plessis has amassed 466 runs at an average of 58.25. He is in the dream form of his life and almost everything that he has touched in IPL 2023 has turned to gold. Now that he is fully fit he will be facing off against Ishant Sharma, who has looked in outstanding form of late with the ball. With Anrich Nortje flying back to South Africa for a personal emergency, a lot of onus will be on Ishant to deliver with the ball early on and deal RCB a few blows. 

Virat Kohli vs Axar Patel

Virat Kohli is the second-highest run scorer for the Royal Challengers with 366 runs scored at an average of 45.50. He has also managed to smash five half-centuries in the tournament so far and will be one of the imperative pennant-bearers of excellence. However, his weakness against quicker bowlers through the air makes Axar Patel a great contender for an impeccable match-up against Kohli. Axar has also bagged seven wickets so far at an economy rate of 6.93.

Mohammed Siraj vs Mitchell Marsh

Mohammed Siraj has improved his line and length by leaps and bounds in IPL 2023 and is one of the biggest threats to the opposition. His overall tally of 15 scalps includes the iconic ones of Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone, dangerous players who can take the game away from an opposition. Another man who belongs to that club is Australian Mitchell Marsh, who is is a fine striker of the cherry and the rate at which he has been striking of late would need someone special like Miyan to get the job done for RCB.

Match detail:

Match: Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore 

Venue: Arun Jaitley Stadium

Date: 6th May, 2023

Time: 7:30 PM

Head-to-head:

Matches played: 29

DC: 10

RCB: 17

Squads:

Delhi Capitals:

David Warner (C), Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje, Mitchell Marsh, Sarfaraz Khan (wk), Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Mustafizur Rahman, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Chetan Sakariya, Lalit Yadav, Ripal Patel, Yash Dhull, Rovman Powell, Pravin Dubey, Lungi Ngidi, Vicky Ostwal, Aman Khan, Phil Salt, Ishant Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Manish Pandey, Rilee Rossouw, Abhishek Porel

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Faf Du Plessis (C), Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammad Siraj, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Josh Hazlewood, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Suyash Prabhudessai, Karn Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, Kedar Jadhav, Wayne Parnell, Himanshu Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Sonu Yadav, Michael Bracewell, Vishnukumar Vyshak