Can pumped-up RCB ace the Delhi challenge?

Delhi Capitals were off to one of their worst possible starts in an IPL season having lost their first five games. The only other season where they lost as many games at the start was in 2013, in which they lost the initial six games.

However, they have made amendments in the last four games, winning three of them, but their batting remains an area of concern. In all three wins, the team posted less than 150. Yes, in the game against Kolkata Knight Riders, they were chasing only 127, but they chased it with four balls remaining. 

Firstly, they need a win to move from the bottom of the table. 

Royal Challengers Bangalore will fancy their chances and feast on Delhi, especially after a morale-boosting win against Lucknow Super Giants. For the past two years, Bangalore have dominated Delhi. In four matches since 2021, they have beaten them in all. 

 A win over Delhi again will take them one step closer to a playoff berth. With 10 points to their name, they will jump to the second spot with 12 if Rajasthan Royals lose against Gujarat Titans (Friday) and Chennai Super Kings lose against Mumbai Indians (Saturday noon). 

Things to watch out for

Will Delhi's spinners pose a threat against Bangalore?

A lot hasn't gone Delhi's way in this IPL. However, a silver lining has been their spin unit. Delhi spinners may not have many wickets to their name, but they have been the best defensive contingent. 

In this IPL, Delhi's spinners have conceded at an economy of 6.8, the lowest among all teams. They have been so good that no other team's spin squadron has an economy of less than 7.5. In any case, their spinners have picked up a wicket every 25.9 balls (16 wickets), the second worst. 

On the other hand, Bangalore have lost 31 wickets to spinners, the most by a team. Their balls/wicket ratio of 17.2 is the third worst. More than the wickets, Bangalore's scoring rate against spinners has been poor. With a run-rate of 7.7, they are the joint-third slowest. Their batters have hit a boundary every 8.4 balls, the worst. 

Maxwell needs to perform outside of Bengaluru

Glenn Maxwell has easily been the best batter for Bangalore in terms of strike-rate. In nine innings, he has scored 262 runs at a strike rate of 183.2. He has hit a boundary every 3.9 balls, the third-best for any batter with 200+ runs in this IPL. From this category, his strike-rate is also the third-highest. 

However, out of those nine innings, six have been in Bengaluru. In those six, he scored 96.6% of his overall runs (253 out of 262) with an average of 50.6 and 195.6 strike rate. Apart from one innings against Kolkata Knight Riders, he has scored 20+ runs in four innings, including three 50+ scores. 

In the remaining three innings, he scored only nine runs at an average of three and a strike rate of 69.2. Being one of Bangalore's best spin hitters, his return to form is vital for the franchise. 

Delhi's opening partnership needs to fire

In the first two matches, David Warner and Prithvi Shaw posted 41 (9.1 RR) and 29 (10.9) for the first wicket. Post that, it has been either 30+ or less than two runs. Their partnerships read: 0 (3) vs RR | 33 (22) vs MI | 1 (4) vs RCB | 38 (27) vs KKR | 1 (3) vs SRH | 0 (2) vs SRH & 0 (1) vs GT (recent).

In this IPL, their opening partnership averages 15.9 in nine innings - their worst across an IPL season. Their opening stand has faced a total of 105 balls. This means, on average, their opening partnership has played just 11.3 balls, the worst. 

Ground details

In this IPL, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, has been the only venue where the toss plays a crucial role. In the four matches held at this ground, teams winning the toss have gone on to win all the matches. In the first three, teams elected to field first, and in the last game, Sunrisers Hyderabad chose to bat and won. 

In the first innings, teams have scored 165 on average, the second-lowest at a venue in this IPL. Only at Ekana, the average is lower (143). 

In four games, scoring quick runs against spinners has been impossible. The pacers have leaked runs at an economy of 9.3 compared to 6.7 by spinners. Their economy is the best after Ekana (6.6). The spinners have bagged a wicket every 18 balls, the third-best among all venues. 

Tactical Nous 

 - In this IPL, whenever Wanindu Hasaranga has erred his length, he has been taken to the cleaners. However, when bowled on a good length, he keeps a check on the run-rate. Only when he has bowled on a good length, he has conceded at an economy of less than seven. But, with a slight error on either side, full (18.3%) or short (16.7%), he has an economy of 9.1 and 12. 

- It is round two of Maxwell against Kuldeep Yadav. In the IPL, both players have had a fierce rivalry. In four innings, the RCBian has scored at a staggering strike rate of 268.2. However, the chinaman has dismissed him in all four innings. Kuldeep won the battle in the reverse fixture by dismissing the batter off the first ball. 

Team combination

Generally, a team would maintain their winning combination. However, for Delhi, if Mitchell Marsh has recovered from his illness, he will slot in for Rilee Rossouw. 

Probable XI

Delhi Capitals: Phil Salt (wk), David Warner (c), Priyam Garg, Rilee Rossouw/Mithcell Marsh, Manish Pandey, Axar Patel, Aman Hakim Khan, Ripal Patel, Anrich Nortje, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma

Probable Impact Sub: Priyam Garg for Khaleel Ahmed or vice-versa

Bangalore are also likely to maintain its previous match combination.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Anuj Rawat, Glenn Maxwell, Suyash Prabhudesai, Dinesh Karthik, Mahipal Lomror, Wanindu Hasaranga, Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood

Probable Impact Sub: Anuj Rawat for Harshal Patel or vice-versa