IPL 2024 DC v RR Preview - Last chance of a great comeback for the Capitals

Key match stats

Arun Jaitley Stadium IPL Records

Pitch Report Arun Jaitley Stadium 10 most recent IPL matches

Team form DC vs RR
DC: WLWWL
RR: WWWWL

Recent meetings: RR won by 12 runs

Weather forecast Arun Jaitley Stadium

General Forecast: Dry and Clear
Chance of dew: Low

Preview DC vs RR

Delhi Capitals chances of staging a late charge for the playoffs took a major hit with defeat in their last match. To stand any chance of sneaking into the top 4, they will need to win all 3 of their remaining games and do so by some significant margins in order to over come the 2nd worst net run-rate in the league at present.

For their part, Rajasthan will be disappointed to have failed to chase down Sunrisers' total in a match which they controlled for large portions. That win would have assured them a place in the playoffs and all but guaranteed them a top 2 finish. Following this game, they face a tricky test against CSK in Chepauk and then 2 'home games' in Guwahati including against KKR. It'd be a bad time of the season to suddenly lose form!

Having been involved in some very high-scoring games of late, DC were undone by KKR's superior bowling attack at Eden Gardens. The youthful exuberance of the DC top order has been a major factor in their upturn in performances after a poor start to the season. However, in their last match, the top order appeared to lack a bit of experience and match awareness on a wicket that wasn't quite as good as the Capitals might have initially anticipated.

DC's average powerplay score of 62.9 is now only bettered by the big hitting KKR and SRH in this year's tournament. However, they are still losing 1.9 wickets on average during those 6 overs and today they face the most economical powerplay bowling attack in the competition. Rajasthan Royals have restricted sides to scoring at 7.9 an over in the powerplay so far this season, almost a run more economical than any other side in IPL 2024.

In fact, DC could do well to learn from SRH in setting a total against this Rajasthan side. The Sunrisers have been nothing short of awesome during the first 6 overs of their innings this year. However, they adapted quickly to some tougher conditions and the loss of 2 early wickets, ensuring that they left themselves with batters in the shed to come back in the 2nd half of the innings against Rajasthan.

Of course, throttling back at the Arun Jaitley might not be an option this year. From having been a really difficult pitch on which to score on in 2023, this season has seen some monster scores!

Highest IPL scores at the Arun Jaitley Stadium

In fact, 4 of the top 5 totals recorded at this stadium, which has played host to 88 IPL matches over the years, have come in IPL 2024. Some of the short boundaries at the Arun Jaitely this season have required nothing more than a tap for the power hitters to clear and there's no reason to suspect that will change in this match.

Batting first has also become a real advantage at the Arun Jaitely in recent matches. The last 5 IPL games have been won by the side batting first here and with the chance of dew impacting the game fairly low then I'd expect the side that wins the toss will look to bat first.

DC RR head to head

RR bowling vs DC batting

Quite a few of the Rajasthan Royals bowling attack are former Capitals themselves. However, Ashwin and Avesh Khan's experience of conditions at the Arun Jaitley was limited during the Covid years and the move to neutral venues. The one man who did find success at the Arun Jaitley Stadium during his stint here was Trent Boult.

Boult T20 record Arun Jaitley

Boult also has an excellent head to head record against Prithvi Shaw and DC are likely to have a big selection decision to make if David Warner is fit to play. It seems likely that if Warner is to return to the side that he would do so at the expense of Shai Hope. However, DC will need to consider who opens the batting in that scenario?

Prithvi Shaw head to head Boult T20 cricket

Jake Fraser-McGurk is striking at 256.6 in the powerplay, the best in the league this season (min 20 balls faced) so dropping him down the order would seem counter productive.

Warner head to head Ashwin T20 cricket*

Similarly, Rajasthan might fancy opening the bowling with Ravi Ashwin again if DC opt for the Warner/Shaw opening partnership. Ashwin has a great record against left-handers and has dismissed Warner 5 times before in T20 cricket. He's bowled far less against Prithvi Shaw but has still dimissed his India teammate twice in the 7 balls bowled at him.

DC bowling vs RR batting

Rajasthan will be keen to get as man runs as possible from Jos Buttler before he departs to captain the England T20 squad in a series against Pakistan laster this month. The Royals opener scored 118 the last time he played an IPL match at the Arun Jaitely sharing a partnership of 150 with Sanju Samson. The way the Royals' top order are playing this season, you wouldn't put that past them again tonight.

Jos Buttler T20 record Arun Jaitley Stadium

Kuldeep Yadav has looked a little short of rhythm in his previous couple of IPL appearances, recording combined figures of 81 for 0 in the last 7 overs he's bowled. After losing a wicket to the 2nd ball Kuldeep bowled in the reverse fixture between these 2 earlier in the season, the Royals batsmen went on the attack against the left-arm wrist-spinner, taking his final 3 overs for 38 runs.

Ashwin and Parag combined head to head Kuldeep Yadav

In that match we saw Ashwin promoted up the order to number 5 to ensure that the Royals batsmen, some of whom have poor head to head records against wrist spin, weren't exposed to the threat of Kuldeep. Might we see a similar ploy today if DC are able to make early in-roads to this Royals line-up?

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