IPL 2023 MATCH PREVIEW: RCB vs DD

Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him. Aldous Huxley's quote aptly applies to Ishant Sharma, who demonstrated his ability to respond effectively to challenging situations by successfully defending a mere 12 runs against Tewatia and Rashid. DC's season has been disappointing, having suffered five consecutive losses. Nevertheless, their recent unexpected wins against SRH and GT showcase their potential, and with better strategic choices, they could have secured eight points. To describe their season, the word "dismal" would not be an overstatement.
David Warner and Mitchell Marsh have been the major disappointments for their team. Warner's performance this season has been his poorest in terms of strike rate, having managed to hit only one six so far. Marsh, who has been outstanding in white ball cricket over the past two years and delivered an impressive performance in the BBL and ODI series against India not long ago, has failed to live up to expectations. Last game he decided to step up he was on the receiving end in spite of a stupendous performance with both bat and the ball. Yuvraj Singh ( twice) is the only other cricketer to end up on the losing side after scoring 50 and scalping 4 wkts in the same match.
Despite having the game under their control, the management of Delhi made some questionable decisions by sending Sarfaraz and Priyam Garg ahead of Axar, who has been one of the best batters for the team and has been consistently striking the ball well in the lower order. Additionally, the inclusion of Priyam Garg seemed illogical when the team already had the talented Yash Dhull in their ranks.
Several such decisions made by Delhi's management this season have been not only strange but also lacking any logical reasoning. As a result, the team now finds themselves in a difficult situation, needing to win all their remaining matches to stay in the race for the playoffs. Unfortunately, this task seems increasingly improbable for them.

After a promising start to the season with an emphatic victory over Mumbai, RCB's old habits seemed to have resurfaced in no time. Their perennial issue of suffering a big loss that damages their Net Run Rate (NRR) has plagued them for the past five seasons, costing them a playoff spot or a chance to finish in the top two. Despite being in commanding positions, RCB lost both their games against KKR and Lucknow due to rudimentary mistakes. Allowing the opposition to hunt down a colossal total of 210 after reducing them to 37/3 and permitting them to amass 204 from a precarious position of 89/4 only highlights the incompetence of the RCB team.

However, RCB has some remedies to their eternal problems with the inclusion of Hasaranga and Hazlewood in their team. Hasaranga's impressive record of 26 wickets last season, with 20 of them coming in the middle overs, can be an asset for RCB, especially in the period where they allow the opposition to score freely. Additionally, his prowess in picking wickets in the death overs, with an economy rate of 7.3, can be crucial for RCB's success.

Hazlewood has been one of the best white-ball bowlers post-2021, with 49 wickets from 32 games for Australia in T20Is at an economy rate of 7.2. His ability to pick wickets in the death overs, as he did for RCB last season (8), is an invaluable addition to the team.

This has undoubtedly been RCB’s one of finest seasons with the ball if we exclude the brainfade in 2nd and 3rd game in the middle overs.

Defended 174 at Chinnaswamy
Defended 174 at Mohali
Defended 190 at Chinnaswamy
Defended 126 at Lucknow

There is a silver lining for RCB , with their improved approach in the Powerplay. Last season, their run rate in the Powerplay was the second-worst, and they were not in the top five in terms of hitting sixes.

They are pumped up after the last win and Virat described as a sweet win after what transpired between the the 2 teams afterwards

Probable Playing XIs

Delhi Capitals

David Warner, Phil Salt, Mitchell Marsh, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Ripal Patel, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Ishant Sharma

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik ( wk ), Wanindu Hasaranga, Shahbaz Ahmed, Karn Sharma, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammad Siraj

Venue

Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

-Average Total batting 1st: 164.5
-Average 1st innings winning total: 181.2
-Highest total: 231/2 - DC vs PBKS, 2011
-Lowest total: 83/10 - DC v CSK, 2013
-Total Match Played: 81
-Batting First Won: 35
-Batting Second Won: 45

Head to Head

Overall: RCB leads by 19-10

Batting 1st: RCB leads by 9-5
Batting 2nd: RCB leads by 10-5

Last 5 matches: RCB leads by 4-1

Most Runs:

Virat Kohli - 999

AB de Villiers - 690

Most wkts:

Yuzvendra Chahal - 15

Kagiso Rabadal - 13

Standings

Delhi: 10th

Bangalore: 5th

Team Form

Delhi: L L L L L W W L W

Bangalore: W L L W L W W L W

Match Ups (IPL)

Warner vs Harshal: 86 off 45
Faf vs Axar: 87 off 79, 3 outs
Kohli v Axar: 70 off 52, 1 out
DK v Axar: 64 off 44, 2 out
Maxwell v Kuldeep: 79 off 45, 4 outs
Warner v Siraj: 55 off 31, 1 out
Kohli v Ishant: 79 off 58

Form Update ( last 5 innings )

Key Players and Fantasy Picks

Faf du Plessis / Virat Kohli

A top order batter should be your 1st priority in Fantasy 11. Faf has been in some surreal form off late with 177 runs at an SR of 143 in BBL and became the 1st centurion in SA 20. He scored 369 runs at an average of 41 (2nd highest). He was the MoM in the opening game for his 73. He scored 79 off 46 deliveries against LSG and 62 off 32 against his former team CS, another 84 off 56 balls against PBKS, and another 61 against RR amidst injury. He has 466 runs at a SR of 160 with 28 sixes.

In contrast to the preceding few seasons, Virat Kohli has now ignited the IPL with his exceptional performance. His approach, intent, and boundary percentage have all improved to a remarkable extent compared to his previous three seasons. Delhi is his happy hunting ground with 71 avg and 149 SR

David Warner

In total, Warner has scored 400+ runs seven consecutive years, and last year he managed 450+ runs at an SR of 150+. But since his comeback from injury in February, he has played just one ODI, and that was obvious from game 1, when he scored a 50, a problem that continued throughout the series. He has been among runs but his SR is nowhere near to the standards he has set. So far he has managed to hit only 1 six in the tournament after scoring 300+ runs . Irrespective of his scoring rate, Warner is a bank and should be a blind pick in any Fantasy XI

Axar Patel:
His batting has been a revelation this year in all 3 formats. Bailed India and his franchise out number of times from crunch situations. In addition to that, he was the man of the 3rd last match game against SRH for his all round performance.

Mitchell Marsh:

Since 2021, Marsh had astonishing nos in white ball cricket, especially in t20is where he was Australia’s top scorer prior to the WC and ended up being the MoM in the final. He continued his form in the BBL this year with scoring 347 runs at an SR of 142 and scored around 200 runs against Ind in ODI series at a SR of 110. But he failed to replicate it in the IPL so far and finally came good in the last game with a 50 and a 4 wkt haul.

Glenn Maxwell

In 2021 and 2022, Maxwell scored 814 runs for RCB at a SR of 152. No one scored more runs than him at a better rate and he did it by batting at 4 or below. He is also an effective off spinner who bowled a few economical overs in Powerplay. With Rajat not in the scene and DK not among runs in the recent past, the onus of carrying the middle order solely lies on him. He is striking at 183 this season with 262 runs.

Fantasy XI