Faf du Plessis walks out to the middle and is given a huge cheer as well. He's now having a good look at the pitch and is shadow practising.
Gokul adds: Ajay Jadav Mandal is having a bowl too. A left-arm spinner from Jharkhand, he can bowl both orthodox and wrist spin, and can bat a bit as well - four first-class centuries.
Our correspondent, Gokul Gopal, reports from the venue: Greetings from Arun Jaitley Stadium. Liam Livingstone having a bowl on the side wicket as Omkar Salvi has a close look. DK gets a huge cheer as he walks onto the field.
As far as team news in concerned, Faf du Plessis has recovered from a groin injury and is likely to slot into the side - that augurs well for DC and will bolster their top-order further. RCB, on the other hand, have won two games in a row and are unlikely to tinker with their combination. Kohli has a terrific record at this venue and that holds the visitors in good stead. Will RCB take their revenge tonight? Or will DC complete the double over RCB? Toss and team lineups will be announced shortly...
What has worked for RCB so far – Virat Kohli’s has hit a purple patch with the bat and is the highest run-getter (9 inns | 392 runs | 5 fifties) for his side. Padikkal has rose to the occasion and has been in superlative form at No. 3. Salt has provided brisk starts at the top while Tim David has played great cameos as a finisher. Krunal Pandya has come onto his own with his slow left-arm orthodox spin while Hazlewood has spearheaded the pace attack nicely.
What has worked for DC so far - KL Rahul has batted with freedom and flair and is the highest run-getter (7 inns | 323 runs | 3 fifties) for them this season. Abishek Porel has also been a breath of fresh air at the top of the order while Karun Nair has impressed one and all with his strokeplay. There’s ample variety in their bowling attack. Kuldeep and Vipraj returned combined figures of 4/35 in 8 overs in the reverse fixture and the hosts will want the duo to flourish once again.
18:30 Local Time, 13:00 GMT, 18:30 IST: When these two teams met the last time, Rahul’s match-winning knock under testing circumstances at the Chinnaswamy and his feisty celebration stole the limelight. The action moves to Arun Jaitley Stadium tonight with DC and RCB ready to lock horns with each other again – it’s 2 vs 3 and it certainly promises to be a blockbuster! Both DC and RCB have had pretty good returns so far this season. We are already more than halfway through the tournament - a win for either side tonight will bolster their chances of making it to the playoffs. DC won their last game against LSG quite authoratatively, courtesy a 4-fer from Mukesh Kumar and fifties from Abishek Porel and KL Rahul. RCB had a rather tense outing last time around against RR but a brilliant bowling performance from their spin duo of Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma and a terrific penultimate over from Hazlewood sealed the deal for them.
Preview by Gokul Gopal
The heat is rising in Delhi, on the field and in the skies. As temperatures soar past 40 degrees Celsius with a heatwave alert in place, the IPL points table is equally scorching, with the top three teams locked at 12 points apiece. In this sweltering setting, a strong Delhi Capitals team host an upbeat Royal Challengers Bengaluru who are yet to taste defeat in an away game, as both sides chase vital points in the playoff race.
It's a contest between two evenly-matched sides, both buoyed by recent wins built on strong bowling efforts. Against LSG, DC bounced back impressively with the ball after an early onslaught, restricting the opposition to 159 before chasing it down comfortably. RCB too had their backs against the wall but they managed to claw back, overcoming a blistering start from Rajasthan Royals. The spinners tightened things up in the middle overs and Josh Hazlewood delivered a superb penultimate over to close it out as RCB finally won a game at home. In what promises to be a high-scoring affair in Delhi, it could once again come down to which side holds its nerve better with the ball.
When these two sides last faced off, KL Rahul rose to the occasion with a commanding knock on a tricky Chinnaswamy surface, handing RCB their second of three successive home defeats. As the winning runs were struck, Rahul pounded his chest and drove his bat into the ground like a sword, declaring, "this is my ground". Now, the spotlight shifts to Kohli, back at his own fortress - the Arun Jaitley Stadium - where thousands recently gathered just to get a glimpse of him in a Ranji Trophy match. Can Kohli return the favour and bring the heat to Delhi?
When: DC vs RCB, Match 46 - Sunday, April 27 at 7:30 PM IST
Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
What to expect: In the two matches hosted by Delhi in this edition, Mumbai Indians successfully defended 205 with a 12-run win, while DC pushed their defence of 188 against RR into a Super Over before eventually prevailing. In 2024, the average first-innings total across the five matches played in Delhi was 235 - the highest among all venues. Meanwhile, the pitch for the DC-RCB clash sported a green tinge on the eve of the game, but it is expected to aid good strokeplay and, with a fair covering of grass, likely take reverse swing out of the equation as well.
Head to head: DC 12 - 19 RCB, 1 no-result. Since 2021, DC have won only two out of seven matches against RCB. At the Arun Jaitley Stadium, DC have lost six and won four against RCB.
Team watch
Delhi Capitals
Injury/unavailability: Faf du Plessis was among the first batters to hit the nets and Jake Fraser-McGurk, who attended the pre-match press conference, said the South African is fit to play. DC have not used their full quota of overseas options in their playing squad in their recent matches and with Du Plessis fit, he could slot in as a Impact sub.
Tactics & matchups: KL Rahul would be a good option for DC to tackle Hazlewood and Yash Dayal, with the right-hander having strike rates of 172.72 and 205.26 against them respectively. But both Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Krunal Pandya have kept Rahul quiet (SR of 111.22 and 106.25 respectively).
Injury/unavailability: RCB do not have any injury concerns at the moment.
Tactics & matchups: RCB have a favourable match-up to counter the early threat from Mitchell Starc in the form of Virat Kohli and Phil Salt. Both batters haven't been dismissed by the left-arm pacer yet in T20 cricket, with Kohli having scored 88 runs off 51 balls while Salt has 44 runs off the 19 balls he's faced from Starc.
Probable XII: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma
Did you know?
- Delhi Capitals are one of the two teams to strike at 150-plus against spin in IPL 2025, with a boundary every five balls. They've also lost 22 wickets to spin in this edition, the second most after Chennai Super Kings' 26
- In the six matches that RCB have won so far, their spinners have bagged 17 wickets at an average of 26, with an economy of 8.33. In contrast, in their three losses, RCB's spin has contributed to a solitary wicket at an average of 139 and an economy of 9.26
- Among those who have bowled a minimum of 10 overs, Mitchell Starc has the highest economy rate in the powerplay - 11.37
- KL Rahul has scored 741 runs in 16 innings against RCB at an average of 74.1 and a strike rate of 147.31, with four fifties and a hundred. Rahul's average against DC is the second best among those with best averages against a team, behind his average of 74.23 against MI
- Virat Kohli has scored 1103 runs at an average of 50.13 and has a strike rate of 136.67 against the Delhi team in all T20s (IPL and CLT20), with 10 fifties. Kohli also averages 60.45 at the Arun Jaitley stadium in T20s
What they said:
"It's pretty obvious, isn't it? It's not great this year, but you can't be too results-based and outcome-based in this game. Otherwise you just won't get anywhere. You've just got to keep trusting the process and keep backing the strengths and trying to strengthen your weaknesses and hopefully one day it turns around and then you kick-start again" - Jake Fraser-McGurk on his batting form.
"He was very hungry and he's been very receptive to a lot of technical and tactical ideas both Dinesh Karthik and Andy Flower have thrown at him. And the way he's gone and batted for us. There have been a couple of tricky situations and tricky conditions also. He's taken the bull by the horn and batted exceedingly well" - Malolan Rangarajan, RCB spin-bowling coach, on Devdutt Padikkal.
Delhi Capitals
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
