IPL 2018: Rajasthan Royals opt to bowl vs Delhi Daredevils

Rajasthan Royals won the toss and chose to chase in their crucial Indian Premier League match against Delhi Daredevils at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Wednesday. (DD vs RR live blog)

Both teams are coming off close defeats, Royals losing to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 11 runs and Delhi Daredevils going down to Chennai Super Kings by 13 runs. Despite losing their last match bowling first, it’s evident Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane is ready to punt on his batsmen once again. (DD vs RR live scorecard)

Delhi Daredevils made just one change to their team, supplanting Rahul Tewatia with Shahbaz Nadeem. Rajasthan Royals however made two changes, bringing in D’Arcy Short and Shreyas Gopal for Ish Sodhi and Mahipal Lomror respectively.

It’s that time of the league when the equations are becoming clearer for every team. Delhi Daredevils need to win at least five of their remaining six matches, if not all, to stay in contention for the playoffs. Rajasthan Royals are in slightly better position as a win here could take them to eight points and alongside Kolkata Knight Riders at fourth position.

For Delhi, a lot will hinge on how the Indians perform. The young trio of Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and Prithvi Shaw has shown exceptional form. Leg spinner Amit Mishra has given Delhi Daredevils some heart in the middle overs and Avesh Khan too has displayed maturity with the ball in the death overs. Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane said at the toss they wanted to chase.

It’s time though Glenn Maxwell steps up to the mantle and score heavily without consuming too many balls. Rajasthan Royals too have similar problems with their English imports Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler and they will be hoping this is the match where they can engineer a turnaround.

Teams

Delhi Daredevils (Playing XI): Prithvi Shaw, Colin Munro, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Glenn Maxwell, Vijay Shankar, Liam Plunkett, Amit Mishra, Shahbaz Nadeem, Avesh Khan, Trent Boult

Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane(c), D Arcy Short, Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w), Krishnappa Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni