In Abu Dhabi, we will have the first doubleheader of the second leg of the IPL 2021. It’s the dazzling Delhi Capitals against the Royals from Rajasthan. It was a Miller and Morris show in India when these teams last met in the first half of the league. They chased down a tricky target of 150 on a seaming wicket in Mumbai. But, it’s the complete opposite at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, where the pitch is relatively on the slower side. In IPL 2020, DC has lost three out of its five matches in this stadium, and they would like to turn the tables in today’s match against RR.
Currently, DC is standing tall in the points table in the second position with 14 points. Whereas RR are slowly but steadily climbing upwards towards the top four, and are in the fifth position with eight points in the bag.
Head-to-Head
When it comes to the head-to-head in IPL, these two sides are neck to neck. DC trails RR by just one win in 23 matches, which includes some incredibly close matches during the IPL. But in the last five fixtures between these two sides, DC has the upper hand with four wins and just one loss.
Players to watch out for: Batsmen
DC and RR have a mighty batting line-up, but the DC batsmen have scored huge runs, whereas the RR batsmen have been inconsistent. The DC batsmen have been firing with the bat, and Shikhar Dhawan has led this batting line-up and is currently the orange cap holder. RR has had issues with their bat, but their captain has been the highest scorer for them in the tournament, including a fine hundred against the Punjab Kings.
Along with Dhawan, Pant has also shown tremendous character in this season as the captain and also as a batsman for DC and is a player to watch out for in this match. Also, the likes of Shaw, Hetmyer, and the return of in-form Iyer have been a value add to this DC batting line-up. For RR, Yashasvi Jaiswal is another batsman to watch out for in this fixture as he has run to his name in the first match of the second leg, and he looked in great touch scoring 49 runs. Also, Lomror and Evin Lewis batted brilliantly and grabbed their opportunities in their first match of this season.
Players to watch out for: Bowlers
There is no doubt that this DC bowling unit is the best in the tournament right now, with the likes of Rabada, Nortje, Avesh Khan, Axar, and Ashwin. The partnership of Rabada and Nortje is one of the best, and they have looked quite ferocious in this tournament. As part of their first match, RR looked unimpressive with the ball in hand until Mustafizur and Tyagi rescued them from defeat. They defended just eight runs from twelve deliveries, with Tyagi bowling the penultimate over and winning the match for RR.
Along with Rabada, Avesh is also a bowler to watch out for in this match, as he is the highest wicket-taker for DC in this season and also was DC’s star performer against RR in their last outing with 3 wickets. For RR, the left-hand bowling duo of Mustafizur and Sakariya are the bowlers to watch out for in this fixture. They have the incredible ability to bowl cutters in the death overs which will be quite useful in Abu Dhabi.
Key Battles
There are a few key battles in this match, considering the splendid bowling attack of DC and the fearless batting unit of RR. Match-ups between Rabada and Lewis, Mustafizur vs Dhawan, etc. will be exciting to watch. But, the battle to watch out for in this fixture will be between Axar and Samson. The left-hand spinner from Gujarat has dismissed the fearless batsman from Kerala twice in IPL. Axar has also conceded just 51 runs off 48 balls and has troubled Samson with his variations. Samson will have to play the left-hand spinner wisely to survive in today’s game in Abu Dhabi.
What to expect
The Sheikh Zayed stadium’s pitch is on the slower side, and the boundaries here are huge. The spinners will come into action, and the average score here is on the lower side. But we anticipate a low-scoring thriller contest between these giant sides of the league. There might be a few changes as Stoinis pulled up a hamstring injury in the first match and might be replaced by Tom Curran or their newest recruit Ben Dwarshius. RR might not change their winning combination and will go unchanged in this fixture.
Probable XI
Delhi Capitals: Shaw, Dhawan, Shreyas, Pant (c and wk), Hetmyer, Curran/ Ben, Axar, Aswhin, Rabada, Nortje, and Avesh.
Rajasthan Royals: Lewis, Jaiswal, Samson (c and wk), Livingstone, Lomror, Riyan, Tewatia, Morris, Sakariya, Tyagi, and Mustafizur.
