Shaurya Dutt
- Sep 25, 2021
- 4 min read

IPL 2021 – DC vs RR – Preview – Royals look to push to Top Four

Marcus Stoinis suffered an injury in the last game, Steven Smith is likely to replace him.

IPL 2021, DCvsRR: Delhi Capitals vs Rajasthan Royals, 36th Match IPL 2021, Starts at 03:30 IST

DC aim to claim top spot whereas RR number 3 (©BCCI/IPL)

Rishabh Pant’s Delhi Capitals (2nd position) and Sanju Samson’s Rajasthan Royals (5th spot) are all set to face each other on Saturday, September 25, 2021 in the Indian Premier League’s 36th fixture of the season at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Rajasthan Royals (RR) have a slender edge over Delhi Capitals (DC), with 12 wins in 23 fixtures. This includes the incredible, close win for the Royals earlier this season in Mumbai against the franchise from the national capital, when Jaydev Unadkat and Chris Morris combined to secure the vital two points for their side.

Overview

Both Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals kicked off their campaigns in the second phase of IPL 2021 with wins. On one side, Rajasthan Royals defeated Punjab Kings in an agonisingly close encounter when Kartik Tyagi defended four runs in the last over. Delhi Capitals defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad when they chased down the target of 139 runs on the second last ball of the 18th over in the 33rd match of IPL 2021.

RR look to jump to number 3

On one side, DC who would be thinking of making sure that they are in the playoffs for sure with a victory and get to a safe 14 points in which case they wouldn’t have much work to do in the remaining league matches.

RR, on the other hand, would aim to reach 10 points which will propel them to third place displacing Royal Challengers Bangalore who are on the same number of points but have a weaker net run rate of -0.720 as against the Royals’ -0.154 at the moment.

Rajasthan Royals did grab two crucial points against Punjab Kings but their senior player, Chris Morris didn't have a great game both with ball and bat. Morris scored 5 runs with bat and leaked 47 runs in 4 overs without any wicket. Chris Morris did well for RR in the first phase of IPL 2021 in India. He has taken 14 wickets from 8 games this season and number 3 bowler in the list of highest wicket-takers for IPL 2021. RR would hope he does what he does best.

IPL 2021 Points Table

Team News

Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis who represents Delhi Capitals got injured while bowling against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the last match. If Stoinis doesn’t get fit then Steve Smith is the ideal option to replace him while on the other hand for Rajasthan Royals there are no injuries and they will be most likely going with the same team which played in the last fixture against Punjab Kings.

“So as far as I know, Stonis...we're just waiting for some results. He looks good, he seems to be fine. I just spoke to him this morning. But we're just waiting on some results, I think he's gone for a scan," said DC pacer Anrich Nortje on Stoinis' fitness.

Probable XIs

Delhi Capitals Probable XI - Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Marcus Stoinis/Steve Smith, Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Avesh Khan

Rajasthan Royals Probable XI - Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Liam Livingstone, Mahipal Lomror, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Chetan Sakariya, Kartik Tyagi, Mustafizur Rahman

Pitch & Weather Conditions

Along with the track being on the slower side, the Zayed Cricket Stadium is the biggest cricket ground in the UAE. So, the average first innings score is usually on the lower side here.

Dew doesn't exactly play a major role here but chasing could still be the preferred option in Abu Dhabi in this season's IPL. The weather is expected to remain clear through the course of the match.

Stat Alert

- Highest run-getters for Delhi Capitals against Rajasthan Royals are Virender Sehwag with 295 runs, Rishabh Pant with 276 runs and Shikar Dhawan with 201 runs while on the other hand, highest run-scorers for Rajasthan Royals against the franchise from the national capital are Ajinkya Rahane with 601 runs, Rahul Dravid with 253 runs and Shane Watson with 220 runs.

- Highest wicket takers for DC against RR are Amit Mishra with 20 wickets, Farveez Maharoof with 11 wickets and Kagiso Rabada with 8 wickets while the highest wicket takers for RR against DC are Jaydev Unadkat and Shane Watson with 9 wickets each and Munaf Patel and Shane Warne with 8 wickets apiece.

- Ajinkya Rahane is the only player to score a century in a DC vs RR encounter so far in IPL, and the top three and unbeaten scores between these two sides also belongs to Rahane with scores of 105*, 91* and 84*. These were his highest scores when he was playing for RR, but now he will be playing for DC.

The match between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) begins at 15:30 hours IST.