Top 4 race heats up as Delhi take on RR in a crucial encounter

IPL 2022 has been the year for the dark horses and the unpredictability has been through the roof. In another chapter of a prolonged rivalry, the Delhi Capitals will be taking on the Rajasthan Royals that could have a significant impact on the points table and despite the early dominion of the Royals, a slip-up in this contest can open the doors to the play-offs for Delhi, that momentarily is slowly closing on itself.

Despite suffering two drubbings on the trot, the Royals would stage a strong turnaround of affairs as they breezed past the likes of the Punjab Kings in a high-scoring affair. Yashashvi Jaiswal  dished out a fine knock of 68 from just 41 balls. Shimron Hetmyer's blitzkrieg in the end ushered them home in sumptuous fashion.

The Capitals were handed another shambolic defeat in a campaign that has barely seen them hitting the stride in consecutive affairs as the Chennai Super Kings pulled off a phenomenal job with the ball in their hands, skittling them out for a paltry 117. Delhi’s batting has been a glaring concern and the only glimmer of hope in the darkness has been a resurgent Rovman Powell who started slow but has finally managed to find his hard-hitting groove.

This will be an interesting challenge as both the sides are placed precariously in the points table and from here, anything can happen. A defeat can be a telling blow to the aspirations of both the sides as the final hustle has already kickstarted. With Gujarat through to the play-offs, it will be interesting to find out which three teams secure the remaining berths.

Venue Watch:

The clash between the Royals and the Capitals will be held at the Dr DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai and the surface here has offered something or the other to both the batters and the bowlers. However, the batters have had a larger share of the say while the bowlers have been close by. The surface offers a green patch that enables early movement, troubling the batters. While the dew in the second innings makes life slightly easier for the team chasing as the ball tends to get soft and becomes very hard to grip. The last game played out here saw a modest-scoring affair where Kolkata piled up 165 while the Mumbai Indians could barely manage 113.

Squads:

Rajasthan Royals:

Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler (R), Yashasvi Jaiswal (R), R Ashwin, Trent Boult, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Riyan Parag, KC Cariappa, Navdeep Saini, Obed McCoy, Arunay Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel, Tejas Baroka, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubham Garhwal, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie Van Der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell

Delhi Capitals:

Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Shardul Thakur, Mustafizur Rahman, Kuldeep Yadav, Ashwin Hebbar, Abhishek Sharma, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, KS Bharat, Mandeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Chetan Sakariya, Lalit Yadav, Ripal Patel, Yash Dhull, Rovman Powell, Pravin Dubey, Lungi Ngidi, Vicky Ostwal, Sarfaraz Khan.

Match Details:

Delhi Capitals vs Rajasthan Royals

Venue: Dr. DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai

Date: 11th May 2022

Time: 7:30 PM IST