Follow UsThe last two days haven’t been great for Delhi Capitals, but that’s only off the field. Two of their overseas stars and four members of the support staff are down with Covid but that didn’t hamper their confidence when they took on Punjab Kings. Rishabh Pant and Co. were at their brutal best against Punjab, hammering Mayank Agarwal’s men with close to 10 overs to spare.
The Capitals will now be up against Rajasthan Royals who have got quite a few in-form players and have won four of their six encounters in the Indian Premier League 2022. The match was earlier supposed to happen at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune but has now been shifted to the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai because of the Covid situation in the Delhi camp.
McCoy adds depth to RR’s bowling attack
We don’t have to tell you how good and consistent Jos Buttler and Yuzvendra Chahal have been this season. For that, all you have to do is look at the colour of their caps. The Royals don’t have enough depth in their batting line-up but the likes of Buttler, Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer haven’t let Rajasthan get exposed on that front.
When it comes to their bowling, Rajasthan have Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna who have been superb with the new ball but the same can’t be said about their death bowling. Meanwhile, R Ashwin hasn’t picked up enough wickets but has been pretty economical (7.54). Surprisingly, legspinner Chahal has been Rajasthan’s best death bowler and that tells you something about their fast bowling unit.
And, that’s why the inclusion of Obed McCoy in the game against Kolkata Knight Riders made so much sense. The Royals almost lost that match despite amassing 217 in the first innings. Yes, it was Chahal who scalped four wickets in the 17th over to turn the game in Rajasthan’s favour but Boult got whacked for two sixes and one four by Umesh Yadav in the very next over and brought the equation down to 18 off 12.
Krishna then conceded seven runs in the penultimate over before McCoy took the last two wickets in the final over and helped Rajasthan win by seven runs. The tall left-arm seamer from West Indies can bowl those cutters and brings that much-needed variety to the RR bowling attack. It’s clearly evident that Boult and Krishna are more effective with the new ball and Samson can now use them mercilessly in the powerplay and have McCoy for the second half of the innings.
Hetmyer - Rajasthan's unsung hero
The left-hander from West Indies has been one of the most impactful batters in this tournament. Match after match, Hetmyer has come out and has had a positive impact on the team’s total as the scoring rate has gone up post his arrival on five occasions. Hetmyer has been pacing his innings perfectly as he is taking some time at the start of the innings whenever he comes out to bat before the end of the 14th over. But, when he comes to bat at the start of the death overs, he doesn’t waste any time as he starts off at a strike rate of 233.
Hetmyer, who is a capable player of both pace and spin, has taken a special liking towards pace as he strikes at over 200 against them and that’s one of the main reasons why he has been very brutal in the death overs, a phase in which he has scored 165 runs at a strike rate of 229. No other batter has scored more runs and hit more sixes than Hetmyer in the death overs and his strike rate of 229 in the phase is also amongst the best.
RR can’t allow Shaw, Warner to dictate terms
Against Punjab, Prithvi Shaw and David Warner showed everyone why they are arguably the best opening combination in this year’s IPL. The target was just 116 but these two smashed 81 runs in the first six overs - Delhi’s highest score in the powerplay in the history of IPL - and didn’t give Punjab even a 0.1 percent chance of stretching this run-chase as further as possible. It’s because of them Delhi now have the best NRR (+0.942) in the competition.
67 in 7.3 overs, 93 in 8.4 overs, 50 in 4.4 overs and 83 in 6.3 overs - this is what Shaw and Warner have done ever since linking up together. Warner has smoked three consecutive fifties, while Shaw has slammed 217 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 170.86. Overall, Delhi have the best scoring rate (9.6), balls/boundary (3.7) and average (49.6) in the tournament and Rajasthan will have to be careful against these two. Boult and Ashwin have done well against these two in the past and could once again be entrusted to take care of Delhi’s dangerous opening duo.
Axar is back to his best
Axar Patel hardly created any impact in the first five games of the season. The left-arm spinner claimed only one wicket and leaked runs at an economy of 8.8. However, the 28-year-old was phenomenal against Punjab, scalping two crucial wickets of Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma. On top of that, he gave away only 10 runs in four overs and didn’t allow any PBKS batter to get going. With Kuldeep Yadav having his best IPL season, Axar’s return to form will serve as a massive boost for Delhi
Probable XIs
Delhi Capitals - Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Rovman Powell, Lalit Yadav, Sarfaraz Khan, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mustafizur Rahman, Khaleel Ahmed.
Rajasthan Royals - Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Karun Nair, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Obed McCoy, Yuzvendra Chahal.