RR vs DC IPL 2022 Highlights: Marsh, Warner half centuries help Delhi Capitals thrash Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets

While Kuldeep Chahal is fourth in the Purple Cap table, the fact remains that 14 of his 18 wickets came in just about five matches. 

There is no doubting the South African pacer's ability but Nortje has taken time getting back to regular first team action since recovering from an injury that kept him out of action for much of the latter half of 2021. He may have conceded 42 runs but took 3 wickets as well, which is encouraging for DC. 

David Warner, Srikar Bharat, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Rovman Powell, Ripal Patel, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Khaleel Ahmed, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Tim Seifert, Mustafizur Rahman, Ashwin Hebbar, Praveen Dubey, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Lalit Yadav, Lungi Ngidi, Chetan Sakariya, Yash Dhull, Vicky Ostwal

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Devdutt Padikkal, Rassie van der Dussen, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Sen, Karun Nair, James Neesham, Navdeep Saini, KC Cariappa, Daryl Mitchell, Obed McCoy, Tejas Baroka, Kuldip Yadav, Anunay Singh, Dhruv Jurel, Shubham Garhwal

Shimron Hetmyer has been an important cog for Rajasthan Royals and possibly the only player keeping them from being called a properly top-heavy team. He has scored 291 runs at an impressive strike rate of 166.28, often becoming the difference between victory and defeat for RR with his late displays. But he is currently back home in the Carribean for the birth of his child and so that will be a big hole for RR to fill today.

Bowling first seems to be a captain's favourite decision after winning the toss in the IPL, understandably of course, but teams batting first have won eight of the last nine matches this season. The winning margin for sides batting first has been over 50 runs as well.

Delhi Capitals assistant coach Shane Watson said that the team's biggest challenge this season has been in their execution of plans. “Our biggest challenge this season has been our execution. We have executed our plans in all three departments at times, but we've not been able to be consistent. The players have been working really hard to find a way to be consistent and hopefully, we can execute our plans over the last three games,” said Watson. 

Sanju Samson, who was made RR captain last season, is the only player to strike above 140 as skipper and has maintained a strike-rate of 140-plus across both periods - as captain and non-captain - and his average has also gone up after taking over captaincy.

Teams batting first at this venue have succesfully defended their totals and players have often said that the pitch is two-paced. But, considering this is not a day game, it would be no surprise to see the captain winning the toss choose to bowl first. 

… produced one of the all-time IPL classics. Rajasthan Royals had scored 222/2 thanks to Jos Buttler's 116 off 65 balls. DC seemed dead and burried but then Rovman Powell launched three massive sixes off the first three balls of the final over, in which they needed 36 runs to win. However, the momentum was disrupted by the DC camp themselves, with a coach running on to the pitch and Pant gesturing to the batters to argue more with the umpires as to why that third ball was not declared a no ball for height. Powell could not middle the next ball and so that was the end of it. Who knows what would have happened if DC could have kept their cool. 

It has been a pretty even contest between these two teams over the years, with RR just about leading 13-12. 

Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have made it impossible for them to be ignored the next time India assemble a team for a T20 series. Chahal is leading the Purple Cap table with 22 wickets in 11 matches while Kuldeep, who has been in the top two for most of the season, is currently fourth with 18 wickets. 

Shaw missed DC's match against SRH and also in their next game against CSK. It was just before the start of the latter game that he posted a photo of himself in a hospital bed and said that he was admitted with high fever. His replacements Mandeep Singh and Sreekar Bharat did not get upto much in both games and so it remains to be seen if he returns or who plays as Warner's opening partner. 

Jos Buttler and David Warner and bona fide international superstars and the latter has been around since the early days of the IPL. Both have seen their abilities being questioned, with Warner's alarming dip in form ending in an ugly divorce with SRH and Buttler's credentials as an all format regular for England being questioned due to his struggles with the bat in Test cricket. But this IPL, they have bossed the game and how. Warner has scored 375 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 156.90 while Buttler incredibly has smashed three centuries. The Englishman has 618 runs to his name at a strike rate of 152.21 in 11 innings.  

One has to feel for how the season has gone for Delhi Capitals. They may have even faced situations where they could hardly train at all because of the Covid-19 scares before matches. And yet, they remain fifth, albeit four points behind fourth place. A victory for RR today, however, could potentially open a gap between the top four and the rest of the chasing pack that might just be too big for any of the chasing teams to close and so DC might just be the neutrals' favourite today.