FANTASY
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Delhi Capitals (DC) take on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Match 22 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. Both DC and RCB have won four of their five matches so far in the IPL 2021. Both teams have done well in the early stages of the tournament and will look to build on their start as they look to push for a top-four berth.
RCB have the upper hand when it comes to the overall IPL head-to-head, however, DC have been dominant in their last five meetings, winning four of them.
IPL HEAD-TO-HEAD
Overall - Matches – 24 | RCB – 14 Wins | DC – 10 Wins
Last five games – RCB – 4 Wins | DC – 1 Win
Suggested Teams
While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your own team from Cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. Based on algorithms, we have come up with one team.
Ground Details
As many as 12 T20 matches have been played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad in 2021, which include games from the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the five T20 Internationals (T20I) between India and England.
The pacers have picked up nearly 61% of the wickets and have done so at balls per wicket ratio of 20.4 and picked up a wicket at an interval of 27 runs. Those numbers are significantly better than the spinners, who have picked up a wicket every 28.7 deliveries, 35.2 runs apart. The only thing that works in their favour is they have an economy of 7.3, which is slightly better than the pacers, who have conceded at eight runs an over.
While economy rates do not matter in fantasy cricket, it is advisable that you stock your team with as many pacers as possible. However, one or two quality spinners won’t hurt.
There could be a few interesting match-ups too.
While Rishabh Pant has often dug his teams – be it India or DC – out of trouble lately, he could be up against an equally confident Mohammed Siraj, who has picked up five wickets at an economy rate of 6.47 in IPL 2021. The RCB fast bowler has taken a pounding against Pant in T20s, but has also dismissed him thrice in six innings. With an even contest on our hands, it will be interesting to see who has the upper hand at the end of it. be
Amit Mishra’s four-wicket haul against Mumbai Indians recently helped DC end a five-match losing streak against the defending champions and he will once again be key here as he tries to dismantle a strong RCB line-up. Bowling Mishra against Glenn Maxwell could work as the leg-spinner has dismissed him four times in five T20 innings. The Australia batsman though has a healthy strike-rate of close to 190 against Mishra, but has a low average of just 13.8 against him.
Captain Selection
With three 40-plus scores in five innings, Shikhar Dhawan could be an ideal choice to lead your fantasy side. He has scores of 28, 45 and 92 from his last three innings, which puts Dhawan in good stead going into this match. In IPL, since 2020, the DC opener has scored 877 runs at a strike-rate of 144, which includes six fifties and two hundreds from 22 innings. Only KL Rahul (891) has scored more runs in this period. Dhawan also has a safe pair of hands, having pouched eight catches already this season, which could be an added incentive to pick him.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Dhawan could score 41-61 runs in this match.
X-Factors
Avesh Khan is yet to go wicketless in the tournament. He has picked up at least two wickets in four out of the five matches he has played so far, making him an ideal candidate to lead your pace attack. With him performing at his best, DC have not picked Anrich Nortje this year, which gives them a chance to play an extra overseas player in their XI. He has bowled well in all three phases of play this season and has pocketed 11 wickets in IPL 2021.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Avesh could pick up 0-1 wickets in this match.
Devdutt Padikkal was perhaps the only positive in RCB’s batting in their 69-run defeat at the hands of CSK. He scored a 15-ball 34 to get Bangalore off to a flying start. He has been in top form since coming back into the side. He has scored 171 runs at a strike-rate of 158.33 in this edition so far and RCB will once again look to him to get them off to a good start.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Padikkal could score 29-43 runs in this match.
Despite being plundered for 37 runs of an over by Ravindra Jadeja, Harshal Patel remains an integral cog in RCB’s bowling unit. Of his 15 wickets this season, Harshal has picked up 11 of those in the death overs at an average of 8.6 and picks up a wicket every six deliveries, which are truly staggering numbers. His economy rate might have taken a pounding, but there’s little doubt that Harshal could provide you with a lot of points if he continues to strike at regular intervals like he has this season.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Harshal could pick up 1-2 wickets in this match.
