IPL 2021, Match 06, April 14th RR vs DC, Wankhede Stadium. Preview RR vs DC in IPL 2021, head to head player stats, records of both Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals at this venue plus the best Dream11 predictions RR vs DC.
Key match stats RR vs DC
Venue
- Average first innings score at the Wankhede Stadium: 167
- Average first innings winning score at Wankhede Stadium: 178
- Average powerplay score at Wankhede Stadium: 46
- All-time win % batting 1st vs batting 2nd: 48% / 51%
Find full venue stats and records here
Team form RR vs DC
- RR – L
- DC – W
- Previous meetings: IPL 2020, DC won by 46runs and DC won by 13 runs
IPL 2021 RR vs DC Preview
At least in my opinion, the performance by Delhi Capitals in their opening match win of IPL 2021 was the strongest of all the sides competing in the tournament so far. They looked by far the sharpest in the field backing up some good bowling from what was essentially a second string attack and then came out and made a 180+ chase look easy. It was certainly a win that laid down a marker to the other challengers for IPL 2021.
As for Rajasthan Royals, the heroics of Sanju Samson almost saw them pull off yet another miraculous run chase against the Kings but what was a highly entertaining affair for the neautral still leaves a lot of problems particularly with the ball for RR to solve if they are to have any hope not only in this fixture against a well drilled DC team but in IPL 2021 in general.
As we can see from last season’s results, RR vs DC is a fixture that has been dominated of late by the Capitals. Even more of a concern is the only man who prevented those margins of victory being even greater, Jofra Archer who took 3 wickets in each match, is not available for the Royals this year. You get the feeling that to win this match RR will need to bat out of their skins once again.
RR vs DC head to head stats
RR bowling vs DC batting
One thing we can safely say is that RR aren’t short of options in their bowling but they do appear a little light on quality. The stand out from their opening match of IPL 2021 was young Chetan Sakariya who looked an effective bowler at both ends of the innings and he and The Fizz put together a decent powerplay performance to at least restrict the Punjab Kings in the opening part of the match. Indeed, had the Royals taken their catches earlier on particularly that of KL Rahul then there is reason to believe that they wouldn’t have needed to chase such a huge score.
As we preview RR vs DC, not to state the obvious but against an even stronger and longer batting line-up that the Captials possess the Royals will have to take every chance in the field to avoid conceding another big total, especially with openers Dhawan and Shaw in such good form.
Looking at how Rajasthan might break that opening partnership we see that Shreyas Gopal has been successful vs Prithvi Shaw in the past so Samson may consider bowling the wrist spinner in the powerplay.
Equally, the fact that RR are likely to have at least 1 and possibly 2 left-arm seam options in the powerplay is a bonus against Dhawan who averages considerably less against that angle of attack than he does against right-arm seam (ave. 44 in the IPL).
One man in the DC line-up who doesn’t mind left-arm bowling is captain Rishabh Pant whose career record is impressive and his overall head to head vs The Fizz is even better! Pant was hardly needed in the win against CSK but expect him to flex his muscles more in this match on a pitch that he’s had success on in the past should he be required.
DC bowling vs RR batting
As mentioned above DC didn’t need to stretch their ample batting resources in their opening match win of IPL 2021 and even more significantly they had their best 2 strike bowlers who took 50+ wickets between them last season, quarantining in the hotel. The idea of Rabada and Nortje coming back into what already looks a very strong DC unit should be enough to strike fear into the hearts of all the other 7 IPL teams.
The one area that DC got a little ragged in during their victory against CSK was at the death but of course this is the stage of the game that both South Africans excel at so you’d be surprised if the Royals were able to make up lost ground in the same way that the Super Kings did at the weekend.
In regards player head to heads, Avesh Khan looked really good in DC’s previous match and is keeping more illustrious colleagues such as Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma on the bench. In this match he’ll come up against a player in Jos Buttler who has smashed a few bowlers around during his IPL career but seems to have reserved special interest for the right arm quick.
Looking beyond the quicks, DC can also call upon the guile and experience of Amit Mishra who has an excellent record against the current RR top order. Mishra sits just 10 victims short of Lasitha Malinga in the all-time IPL wicket taking stakes and will be licking his lips at the chance to add a couple more to his tally here today.
Of course, one head to head match-up that transcends the T20 format is that of Ben Stokes vs Ravi Ashwin. Ashwin got hit around the park a bit in the opening game of IPL 2021 but you can bet he’ll be keen to reignite his duel with the left-handed Stokes and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him bowl in the powerplay and potentially even the first over with the Englishman likely to open the batting once again.
One key stat to consider when previewing RR vs DC at the Wankhede is that in the opening 2 games of IPL 2021 played at this venue, spinners have been going at 10 and a half an over with just a single wicket taken in 15 overs bowled and even then it was to part-timer Riyan Parag. That being the case, it will be interesting to see if either side reconsiders the balance of their bowling line-ups and opts to go with just a single spinner instead of the duel attack.
All head to head player stats can be found here
