IPL 2020, DC vs RCB preview: Delhi, Bangalore to clash with spot in Qualifier 1 at stake

Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore are both expected to go all out against each other on Monday in Abu Dhabi to arrest their rapid slide in the Indian Premier League and, more importantly, secure a top-two finish in the points table.

DC and RCB go into the all-important clash, having lost four and three games on the trot respectively, showing that things can change rather quickly in the highly-competitive IPL.

At stake is a top-two finish which provides a couple of attempts to make it to the final. The loser of Monday’s game could still end up making the playoffs but as long as the margin of defeat is not significant (or Sunrisers lose their final match).

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DC, who were bossing most teams in the first half of the tournament, have had a dramatic fall with their last win coming two weeks ago. Their batsmen have come a cropper since then and the bowling doesn’t look as potent as it was in the first half.

Indian Premier League 2020 Points Table

Problems started with DC unable to find a stable combination at the top of the order. Both Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane have been paired up with Shikhar Dhawan but neither of them has provided the much-needed consistency.

In fact, Dhawan, who was flying high with back-to-back hundreds, has managed 6, 0, 0 in the last three games. The Delhi-based team had banked on the big-hitting from Rishabh Pant in the middle-order but with 274 runs at a strike-rate of 112.29, he has been far from his best.

After a nine-wicket hammering against Mumbai Indians on Saturday, skipper Shreyas Iyer spoke on the need for a fearless approach.

“We’ll have to think about it (changes to the line-up) and be fearless in our approach. We’ll keep things simple and will not try to think much,” he had said.

RCB too are smarting from a string of losses, most recently against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday. The three losses on the trot have reignited the debate on the team’s dependency on star players Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.

Both Kohli and de Villiers didn’t fire in the last two games, resulting in heavy defeats. Josh Phillippe has shown promise at the top of the order after replacing Aaron Finch but needs to convert starts into substantial scores.

As the weather gets cooler in the UAE, dew is proving to be a major factor. Considering the prevailing conditions, teams are opting to field with dew making batting much easier in the second half of the game. It was something that was acknowledged by Kohli after RCB’s loss to SRH. And it could play a significant part in the blockbuster clash on Monday.

Match starts at 7.30 pm IST and will be broadcast on the Star Sports network and Disney+Hotstar

With PTI inputs