Venue: Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Time: 3:30 PM IST
Average score at venue: 164
Win percentage while batting first: 45.45%
Pitch Conditions:
- The pitch at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi is at present sporting fresh grass — to ensure the surface does not break down soon — but it is still expected to favour the batsmen, for whom the ball will be coming ‘nicely’ on to the bat as the saying goes. The odd ball can still rise up sharply on the batsmen but it remains to be seen how big a role can the spinners play on a green-top surface.
- Fast bowlers have a better success record at this venue with 69.4 percentage of wickets coming their way with spinners getting only 30.56%.
Weather prediction:
After a cloudy start to the day, the skies will clear up towards the evening when Delhi Capitals take on Rajasthan Royals in the Match No 36 of Indian T20 2021. The weather will drop down to 34°C from 36°C early in the evening whereas humidity will also experience a steady rise as the contest progresses.
Head-to-head performance:
Matches played: 23
Delhi Capitals (DC) won: 11
Rajasthan Royals (RR) won: 12
Tied: –
Top 3 players from Delhi Capitals (DC): Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada
Top 3 players from Rajasthan Royals (RR): Kartik Tyagi, Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each):
Top 5 players from Delhi Capitals (DC): Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Rishabh Pant
Top 3 players from Rajasthan Royals (RR): Kartik Tyagi, Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mahipal Lomror, Evin Lewis
Q&A:
Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
At the end of the day, the team which makes the most runs is going to win and there is absolutely no doubt about that. Both Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals have an impressive batting line-up and it remains to be seen how their respective bowling attacks are able to contain the opposition batsmen when the pitch remains favourable to batting. There are some really exciting batsmen present in both Delhi and Rajasthan camp, but it is the bowlers such as Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ravichandran Ashwin and Akshar Patel who make the Delhi Capitals look more dangerous as a team. For this contest, adding more to the batting firepower will be the right approach.
From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
Rajasthan Royals have been able to hang on to the fifth position in the Indian T20 2021 points table with some of the better-looking teams such as Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings behind them. For that matter, Rajasthan are without their key players in Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler and Andrew Tye but they still have remained on the periphery of the top four teams who will qualify for the Indian T20 2021 knockouts. Nevertheless, there is still a huge gap between the table-toppers Delhi Capitals and the fifth-placed Rajasthan Royals. Delhi have plenty of depth and variations in all departments, something that Rajasthan are lacking. Indeed, there should be more players picked in the fantasy cricket XIs from the Delhi Capitals as they are the stronger side in all departments compared to Rajasthan Royals.
MORE INFORMATION:
Players’ form: With Rishabh Pant continuing as the captain of Delhi Capitals, their regular skipper Shreyas Iyer — on a comeback trail — has been tasked with the responsibility of getting as many runs as possible in the next 8-9 matches that DC are likely to play in Indian T20 2021. Iyer made a strong comeback to the Indian T20 arena, and so did Shikhar Dhawan, after he was not selected in the Indian team for the upcoming Cricket T20 World Cup. Pant also made some runs whereas Delhi Capitals bowling attack, led by Rabada, did a fantastic job against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Rajasthan Royals were indeed the luckier side against Punjab Kings as they snatched a close win by 2 runs despite PBKS looking the better team for the majority of their chase. The contributions from Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kevin Lewis and Mahipal Lomror were very promising for the Rajasthan Royals who have for a long time depended solely on Sanju Samson to lead their batting.
Changes in squad (if any): YES
LIKELY XIs:
Delhi Capitals (DC): Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (c&wk), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Akshar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan, Anrich Nortje.
Rajasthan Royals (RR): Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c&wk), Liam Livingston, Mahipal Lomror, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Chetan Sakariya, Karthik Tyagi, Mustafizur Rahman.
FANTASY XI: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer (vc), Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Rahul Tewatia, Ravichandran Ashwin, Avesh Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Chris Morris.
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Rampant Delhi Capitals wary of Rajasthan Royals
Sitting pretty at the top of the Indian T20 2021 points table, Delhi Capitals will be wary of the surprises that Rajasthan Royals can come up with, when they take on the 2008 Indian T20 winners in the Match No 36 at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.
Rajasthan Royals had won the last contest which these two teams played by 3 wickets, which followed a string of four consecutive defeats at the hands of Delhi Capitals — something that the Pant-led side would want to resume when the two teams meet.
Capitals have been the best team so far in the tournament with 7 victories in 9 matches giving them 12 points and healthy Net Run Rate (NRR) of 0.613, whereas Rajasthan Royals have been on the periphery of the top four, recording 4 victories and as many defeats in 8 matches which gives them 8 points and a negative NRR of -0.154.
Both the teams are coming off victories in their respective last matches, with the Delhi Capitals comprehensively crushing the tournament’s worst team so far, Sunrisers Hyderabad, by 8 wickets. On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals sprang a huge surprise on Punjab Kings who were the better team for the majority of the contest. The young Indian bowler Karthik Tyagi defended 4 runs in the final over to help Rajasthan Royals win by 2 runs, thus recording a highly unlikely but morale-boosting victory at the start of the second stage of Indian T20 2021 in the UAE.
Delhi Capitals have been boosted with the return of the regular captain Iyer, who is not leading the side in this tournament but still entrusted with the responsibility of getting as many runs as possible. With Dhawan in-form at the top and the fireworks that Prithvi Shaw can provide, Delhi Capitals have a dangerous opening pair followed by the likes of Iyer, Pant, Shimron Hetmyer and Marcus Stoinis as the rest of the batting to follow.
On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals will be very pleased with the fact that their side did not have to depend solely on their wicketkeeper-batsman-captain Sanju Samson for runs and stability in the middle. Even Lewis made an impressive start to his Rajasthan stint whereas Yashasvi Jaiswal was unfortunate to have missed out on a half-century by 1 run. Mahipal Lomror proved why he is rated so highly among the young Indian batsmen, whereas the bowlers were also on the mark for the Royals against Punjab Kings.
This match will be played at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi where a lot of grass has been left on the wicket for it to last as long as possible, in a tournament where there are back-to-back matches. The pitch has so far provided plenty of assistance to the batsmen with the ball coming comfortably on to the bat and the odd one bouncing more than expected.
