Delhi Capitals (DC) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) come face to face at the Dubai International cricket stadium here on Monday. Both teams have six points each, but on net run rate DC were ahead of RCB.
Delhi and Bangalore are fresh from wins on Saturday. While the Virat Kohli-led RCB side thrashed Rajasthan Royal (RR), the Shreyas Iyer-captained DC defeated KKR by 18 runs.
Both contests saw their respective skippers leading from the front. After three below-par shows, Kohli regained his touch and played a fantastic unbeaten 72-run knock, helping his side register their third win of the league. Similarly, Iyer’s blitzkrieg (unbeaten 88 off 38) propelled DC to a massive 228/4 against KKR before their bowlers defended the target to set up their third win. The DC top-order, barring Shikhar Dhawan, looks in sublime touch and has explosive Marcus Stoinis and Shimron Hetmyer in their arsenal for late fireworks.
DC stumper Rishabh Pant also showed signs of getting the form back after he dusted off his rustiness with a 17-ball 38-run cameo on Saturday. Dhawan (26 off 16) started his innings well against KKR but the left-hander failed to convert it. In bowling, Kagiso Rabada will once again spearhead the pace attack along with compatriot Anrich Nortje, who bowled a decent penultimate over against KKR. Rabada was expensive against KKR. However, the South African quick knows how to rectify errors.
Ravichandran Ashwin and leggie Amit Mishra, who were amongst runs against KKR, will share the spin workload but the entire DC bowling unit needs to be very careful against a side that boasts some quality powerhitters of the T20 format. RCB, on the other hand, have young Devdutt Padikkal along with Aaron Finch at the top. The youngster was quite impressive against RR and the 20-year-old sits at the fourth place in the list of highest run-getters so far in the league. Padikkal will surely aim to replicate the show against DC by providing a flying start to his side with Finch.
In the middle-order, Kohli’s form was the major cause of concern for the RCB think-tank. However; the skipper’s knock against KKR will be a major relief. He will get support from AB de Villiers who, too, has been amongst runs after 146 from four games.