A place in the playoffs will be up for grabs when Delhi Capitals (DC) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) square off in Match 55 of the Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
DC and RCB were once marching towards a spot in the playoffs. However, after suffering four and three successive defeats respectively at the back end of the tournament, one of them may be in danger of missing out on a place in the final four.
It was not long ago when Delhi Capitals were flying high and looked favorites to qualify for the next round. They defeated Chennai Super Kings for the second time in 2020 and it has been a downfall for them ever since. With four back to back losses after that win, Delhi Capitals now seem to be running out of steam and are now in a position where nothing short of a win will do.
In the last four matches, Delhi Capitals have had all sorts of problems. Their batsmen failed to fire in unison, their bowlers failed to hit their mark, and a few reckless changes certainly disturbed the balanced they had in the first half of the tournament.
With Prithvi Shaw failing to control his temper yet again, the question about his selection in the upcoming match is out again. Delhi Capitals have struggled to show intent at the top of the order and while Shaw might be the right choice to address that issue, but the fact that the Capitals are losing too many wickets too quickly forces them to look towards Ajinkya Rahane. Rishabh Pant has looked like a mere shadow of himself and has so far been unable to hit boundaries at will. In totality, Delhi Capitals have not only lost too many wickets at the top but have also failed to up the ante in the death overs in their recent matches. This is certainly the biggest concern that their management will be occupied to solve.
While they have done pretty well with the ball in the tournament, their bowlers looked pretty off-color in the last couple of matches. Sunrisers Hyderabad were pretty severe on Kagiso Rabada and Co. and it wasn't too different for the Capitals' bowlers when they were defending a paltry total against Mumbai Indians. Barring Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, and Ravichandran Ashwin, the Capitals' bowling has looked out of sorts of late.
Delhi have a lot of issues to resolve and they need to resolve those quickly. Their batting has lacked intent and their bowlers have failed to hit the right channels in the recent matches. Besides, Shreyas Iyer hasn't really been tactically correct when operating under pressure.
Just a couple of matches ago, Royal Challengers Bangalore replaced Aaron Finch with Joshua Phillipe to provide their innings a thrust in the powerplay. While the move seemed to have worked and Joshua has done well at the top, the other batsmen have failed to play their part in the recent matches. Their losing streak is now of three matches and one thing that was common in those three matches was a poor performance by their batting.
As apparent from recent results, RCB's batting depends heavily on AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli to deliver the lusty hits in the death overs. However, both those batsmen failed to do that in RCB's last three matches as RCB failed to put even a par score on the board. Also, removing Shivam Dube from the playing eleven seemed to be a poor change as now the Challengers do not really have anyone coming in after number four who can tonk the ball long and hard.
RCB's inability to pick up wickets with the new ball has hurt them the most. With seamers not firing at the top, their opponents can afford to play Chahal out, who has looked RCB's only wicket-taking option.
In the last few matches, Royal Challengers Bangalore have been a little too top-heavy with the bat and have depended heavily on Yuzvendra Chahal to pick wickets. However, with the likes of Morris, Udana, Saini, and Sundar, Kohli has a plethora of options who can be pretty good with the ball in hand. RCB need AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli to fire now more than ever.
Weather Forecast
The maximum temperature around the evening at 6pm is likely to be 30 degree Celsius, while the minimum is expected to be around 24 degrees. The forecast shows no chances of rain and humidity will be around 59% and the wind speed around 19 kmph.
Pitch Report
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi pitch has slowed down considerably, with the new-ball bowlers ruling the roost of late. This here is arguably one of the easiest ones to bat one now, especially in the evening games. dew is once again going to be a massive factor, and setting up a total is going to be a difficult task. The team batting first will want to post a total of at least 180 runs on the board.
The pitch at Sharjah has become slower and been more difficult to score. The middle overs with the spinners are going to be tough for the batsmen to score in. The chasing team has won the past five matches on this ground, with dew playing a key role. The ball is hard to grip which causes significant trouble to the spin bowlers. A total of around 180 is going to be quite difficult to chase down.
Toss Prediction
In the evening matches, the weather gets cooler in the UAE and the dew is proving to be a major factor in the game. Keeping this crucial factor in mind, teams are opting to field first since dew makes batting much easier in the second half of the game.
Stats and Facts
Head to head: Matches Played: 25
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 15
Delhi Capitals: 9
Abandoned: 1
Approaching Milestones:
Shreyas Iyer and Shikhar Dhawan require 86 and 29 runs respectively to complete 500 runs in IPL 2020.
Harshal Patel needs 4 wickets to complete 50 IPL wickets.
Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal need 69 and 74 runs respectively to complete 500 runs in IPL 2020.
AB de Villiers requires 61 runs to complete 500 runs in IPL against Delhi Capitals
Likely XIs:
Delhi Capitals: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer (capt), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Pravin Dubey
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Devdutt Padikkal, Josh Philippe (wk), Virat Kohli (capt), AB de Villiers, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Gurkeerat Singh, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Players to Watch Out For:
Delhi Capitals: Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Kagiso Rabada
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Chris Morris, Yuzvendra Chahal
Match Odds:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1.80
Delhi Capitals: 2.00
SantaBanta's Winner Prediction: Royal Challengers Bangalore
IPL 2020 Winner Live Odds
Mumbai Indians - 2.25
Royal Challengers Bangalore - 4
Delhi Capitals - 5
Kolkata Knight Riders - 8
Sunrisers Hyderabad - 13
Match Venue: Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Time: 7.30 PM IST
TV: Star Sports Network
Live Streaming: Disney+ Hotstar VIP
