Delhi Capitals will host the Rajasthan Royals at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi in a crucial encounter on Saturday evening. While the hosts have already qualified for the playoffs, Rajasthan will be eager to win this battle to stay in the race for a playoff spot. However, they will need other things to go their way too. For Rajasthan to qualify, Sunrisers Hyderabad need to lose to Royal Challengers Bangalore and also have to hope that Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab do not go on to win more than one of their remaining two matches.
Rajasthan are currently sitting at sixth on the points table with 11 points whereas Delhi are in third with 16 points. This match will be the last league game for both the teams. While Delhi have been hardly affected by international player departures, Rajasthan have lost a lot of their quality players. All of Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Steve Smith have gone back to take part in World Cup preparations for their respective countries. However, players like Sanju Samson, Liam Livingstone, Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas and Riyan Parag have shown form of late and Rajasthan will be banking on them to come good once again.
Delhi meanwhile have put on a strong show this season. However, they have been dented by Kagiso Rabada's injury just ahead of the playoffs. He is the highest wicket-taker this season. Apart from that, there is hardly anything
Delhi Capitals will host the Rajasthan Royals at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi in a crucial encounter on Saturday evening. While the hosts have already qualified for the playoffs, Rajasthan will be eager to win this battle to stay in the race for a playoff spot. However, they will need other things to go their way too. For Rajasthan to qualify, Sunrisers Hyderabad need to lose to Royal Challengers Bangalore and also have to hope that Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab do not go on to win more than one of their remaining two matches.
Rajasthan are currently sitting at sixth on the points table with 11 points whereas Delhi are in third with 16 points. This match will be the last league game for both the teams. While Delhi have been hardly affected by international player departures, Rajasthan have lost a lot of their quality players. All of Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Steve Smith have gone back to take part in World Cup preparations for their respective countries. However, players like Sanju Samson, Liam Livingstone, Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas and Riyan Parag have shown form of late and Rajasthan will be banking on them to come good once again.
Delhi meanwhile have put on a strong show this season. However, they have been dented by Kagiso Rabada's injury just ahead of the playoffs. He is the highest wicket-taker this season. Apart from that, there is hardly anything to worry about for Delhi. Their top four batsmen in Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant have been in good form this season. They have consistently got their teams off to good starts match-after-match. The pace bowling unit is a bit of a concern with Rabada absent. It remains to be seen how far Trent Boult, Ishant Sharma and Chris Morris are able to perform.
Overall, this match looks well setup for a good contest and the end result might turn out to be pretty thrilling.
Weather and Pitch Conditions: Weather is expected to remain clear. The pitch at Delhi has generally been on the slower side offering assistance to the spinners. This might not be a high scoring match owing to the nature of the pitch.
Player Recommendations:
Wicket-keeper: Sanju Samson (9 Cr)
Samson has been in good form this season. He has scored 337 runs so far at an average of 37.44. These runs include a superb innings of 102 unbeaten as well. He bats at No. 3 and keeps the wickets as well. Any wicket-keeper who bats in the top four is a good fantasy pick.
Batsman: Ajinkya Rahane (10 Cr)
Rahane scored a superb century the last time Delhi played against Rajasthan in Jaipur. He averages over 70 against the Capitals and over 50 at the Feroz Shah Kotla. These stats back the fact that there in something special in store from Rahane on Saturday.
All-Rounder: Axar Patel (8.5 Cr)
The all-rounder, who primarily bowls left arm orthodox spin along with having handy batting skills, was bought by the Capitals in the auctions back in December 2018. He has repaid the team's faith in him as he has come up with valuable performances on the Delhi track almost every time. He is picking up at least a wicket every match and is also scoring handy runs down the order.
Bowler: Varun Aaron (8.5 Cr)
Aaron has been superb in the last three matches. He started off his season with a scintillating three-wicket haul against Kolkata Knight Riders. He has performed consistently well thereafter. Batsmen are finding his knuckle ball hard to pick and that could turn out to be a great asset for Rajasthan.
Uncapped Player: Riyan Parag (8.5 Cr)
The 17-year old has made waves with his all-round performances this season. He has two 40-plus knocks to his name along with having two wickets with the ball as well. He comes up with crucial performances in crucial situations and that is the mark of a great player in the making.
Captain: Ajinkya Rahane
Vice-Captain: Axar Patel
Predicted Playing XI:
Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant (w), Colin Ingram/Hanuma Vihari, Sherfane Rutherford, Axar Patel, Chris Morris, Jagadeesha Suchith, Amit Mishra, Trent Boult
Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane, Liam Livingstone, Sanju Samson (wk), Ashton Turner, Riyan Parag, Stuart Binny, Mahipal Lomror, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat/Ish Sodhi, Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas
