Find out team news, TV and streaming information, odds, weather forecasts and much, much more ahead of the next game of the 2021 Indian Premier League season
Delhi Capitals meet Rajasthan Royals in the 2021 Indian Premier League.
The game is scheduled for 2pm UAE (11am BST, 3.30pm IST) on Saturday, September 25, 2021.
The two sides will meet at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Delhi Capitals have been the team to beat in the 2021 edition so far. Ricky Ponting’s side have lost only twice in their nine matches and have 14 points to their name. Under Ponting’s reign, the Capitals have steadily improved their returns, and last season finished as runners-up after being defeated by eventual champions Mumbai Indians in the final.
After their dominant start to the 2021 season, they will rate their chances of going one step further highly, and will be looking to continue their storming run of form with a win.
Rajasthan Royals, meanwhile, have the wind in their sails after an astonishing comeback saw them defeat Punjab Kings by two runs. With the Kings needing just four to win from their final over, Kartik Tyagi held his nerve against all the odds to clinch a nail-biting victory for the Royals.
Their campaign has blown hot and cold so far, but their staggering victory against the Kings will give them a huge amount of confidence, and they will feel like they have every chance of upsetting Delhi.
Delhi Capitals are heavily fancied to win this one, with Dafabet offering odds of 4/7. Rajasthan Royals are available at 11/8.
Dafabet are backing Shikhar Dhawan to top-score for Delhi, offering odds of 9/4. Evin Lewis is available at 14/5 for Rajasthan.
The raw pace of Anrich Nortje has served Delhi Capitals well so far. He served up a spicy spell against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last clash, taking 2 for 12 from his full allocation.
The UAE pitches have been kind to seam since the restart, and if they continue to play out as they have so far, multi-phase express seamers such as Nortje will have a great time of it.
Capitals have also been boosted by the return of Shreyas Iyer from injury, who scored an unbeaten 47 versus Sunrisers. He may not be the most explosive batter around, but having been left out of India’s T20 World Cup squad, he has a point to prove.
Kartik Tyagi stole the show for Rajasthan in their astonishing comeback against Punjab Kings. Having been entrusted with the final over, he executed his game plan to perfection, finishing with match figures of 2 for 29.
All eyes will be on Tyagi, to see if he can repeat his magic at the death again. With the bat, Mahipal Lomror impressed too, smashing 43 from just 17 deliveries at a strike rate of 252.94. The 22-year-old won the hearts of many a Royals devotee with his swashbuckling display, and will be eager to follow up with more maximums.
Australian allrounder Marcus Stoinis suffered a hamstring injury while bowling in the Capitals’ last game versus Sunrisers Hyderabad, and he is a doubt for the Royals fixture.
Compatriot Steve Smith, who replaced him as a substitute fielder last time around, is the likely beneficiary should Stoinis be ruled out: the other likely candidate, England’s Sam Billings, is still in quarantine.
Rajasthan Royals are set to go unchanged, with no new injury concerns to deal with. Trevor Penney and Kumar Sangakkara will likely see little reason to change the side that won against all the odds in their last fixture against Punjab Kings.
The two teams have played each other 23 times.
Delhi Capitals wins: 11
Rajasthan Royals wins: 12
Temperatures are set to hit 35 Celsius at the start of this game.
Follow the Met Office forecast here.
Yes, a limited number of fans are allowed to attend games during the IPL's UAE leg.
There are no shortage of match winners on either side, with both teams coming into the clash off the back of impressive victories. But the Capitals have been such a dominant force throughout the campaign, it’s hard to look past them. Their gun seam attack of Rabada, Nortje and Avesh should be enough to see them to victory.
IPL TEAM GUIDES
Sky Sports have the rights in the United Kingdom.
You can aso stream the tournament using the Disney+ Hotstar digital platform, though the matches are only available for VIP or Premium subscribers.
Star Sports have the television rights in India.
Streaming service YuppTV have acquired digital streaming rights in a host of markets, including Australia, continental Europe, Malaysia, Southeast Asia with the exception of Singapore, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, Central Asia, and Central and South America.
In the USA, the games will be broadcast on Willow TV and the Willow TV website. Fox Sports have the broadcasting rights in Australia, while Supersport will televise the games in South Africa. In the Caribbean, Flow TV have the rights.
The following broadcasters owning the rights for their respective regions:
Bangladesh: Channel 9
Afghanistan: Lemar TV
Malaysia: Measat
MENA/UAE: BeIN Sport
Hong Kong: Now TV
Singapore: SingTel
New Zealand: Sky Sport
Papua New Guinea: EMTV
Delhi Capitals squad: Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Prithvi Shaw, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Lalit Yadav, Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Chris Woakes, Anrich Nortje, Steve Smith, Umesh Yadav, Ripal Patel, Lukman Hussain Meriwala, M Siddharth, Tom Curran, Sam Billings, Pravin Dubey, Vishnu Vinod
Rajasthan Royals squad: Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Kartik Tyagi, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, David Miller, Manan Vohra, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahim, Chetan Sakariya, K.C. Cariappa, Liam Livingstone, Kuldip Yadav, Akash Singh, Glenn Phillips
Delhi Capitals: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Rishabh Pant, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Shimron Hetmyer, 7 Axar Patel, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Avesh Khan
Rajasthan Royals: 1 Evin Lewis, 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Sanju Samson, 4 Liam Livingstone, 5 Mahipal Lomror, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Chris Morris, 9 Chetan Sakariya, 10 Kartik Tyagi, 11 Mustafizur Rahman
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