Last Updated on 7 years by Charbel Coorey
Delhi plays host to a playoff of some sort… An elimination playoff.
Journalists and analysts are doing their best to say Delhi Daredevils are still in with a shot at the playoffs, but it will be the miracle of all miracles. In any case, they would be pleased the miracle path begins with a battle against fellow strugglers Royal Challengers Bangalore. DD tried hard against SRH, but lacked the class. Against RCB, they could be in for a happier night.
Royal Challengers Bangalore have a game in hand over their nearest rivals on the table, and a win tonight could put them just two points behind fourth at the end of the night, provided KXIP beat KKR. However, it’s easy for me and the RCB fans to say this, but the RCB team continue to underwhelm. Surprisingly, it’s been their batting that has been the big let down in recent games, with their bowling actually holding up OK. Can they put a complete performance together tonight?
Key to a Delhi Daredevils
Rishabh Pant took it to the best attack in the tournament in SRH, hitting an amazing unbeaten century, which included 70 off 24 balls against Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan. However, when a single player scores 128* off 63 balls, you should be making 200+. This wasn’t the case, as the next best score was just 24, so DD need their talented line up on paper to deliver a complete effort.
Also, DD’s bowlers lacked bite, and not only failed to defend 187, but failed to defend such a total even within 19 overs. You don’t have to be Einstein to know RCB rely heavily on their top order, so early wickets and boundary restriction will be key
 |
| Rishabh Pant – what an innings v SRH |
Key to a Royal Challengers Bangalore win
Incredibly, RCB’s bowling has kept them in with a chance of winning recent games. It’s been their batting that’s been the big disappointing, mustering 127/9 and 141 in their last two games against CSK and SRH respectively.
The key factor in those two games were the low scores for AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli. At least one of these two need to fire tonight, with some strong finishing from the likes of Colin de Grandhomme and co. to give them a chance. Their bowling has been encouraging recently, but the batting needs to complement it.
I can’t believe I am saying this about RCB, but it’s the case!
 |
| Two key players for RCB, as always |
Possible teams
Delhi Daredevils XI: 1. Prithvi Shaw, 2. Colin Munro, 3. Shreyas Iyer (c), 4. Rishabh Pant (wk), 5. Glenn Maxwell, 6. Vijay Shankar, 7. Liam Plunkett, 8. Amit Mishra, 9. Harshal Patel, 10. Trent Boult, 11. Shahbaz Nadeem
Royal Challengers Bangalore XI: 1. Manan Vohra, 2. Parthiv Patel (wk), 3. Virat Kohli (c), 4. AB de Villiers, 5. Mandeep Singh, 6. Colin de Grandhomme, 7. Moeen Ali, 8. Tim Southee, 9. Umesh Yadav, 10. Yuzvendra Chahal, 11. Mohammed Siraj
Stats and Facts:
- Head-to-Head: Matches 20, DD 6, RCB 13, NR 1
- Rishabh Pant has a good chance of continuing where he left off against SRH. He likes playing against RCB – his last three scores against them are 57, 45 and 85.
- Virat Kohli averages 83.75 in IPL matches at Kolta, including four half centuries in five matches.
- Gautam Gambhir was captaining the DD side the last time they played RCB.
- RCB have won all five matches at the Feroz Shah Kolta Ground.
Prediction
Tough one to predict, as both sides are underperforming. I have a feeling though that Virat Kohli will fire and lead RCB to a strong total that could be enough to beat DD.
RCB to win in a tight clash.
