IPL 2020: Match 55: Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore - Match Prediction

Delhi Capitals (DC) will take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in a vital clash on Monday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi for match number 55 of the IPL 2020. Two weeks ago both the teams looked set to qualify for the playoffs, however, now the losing team stands a mathematical chance be ousted from the top four.

Delhi and Bangalore, both are tied with 14 points on the points table. A victory for one team on Monday will ensure a place at the second spot. While for the other, it will boil down to net run rate, as at least one of Kolkata or Rajasthan will finish on 14 points, and Punjab and Hyderabad too can achieve the same number of points.

RCB is now on a three-match losing streak- all losses coming while defending. The star-studded Bangalore batting line-up hasn’t given the bowlers enough to defend in their last three matches.

In Josh Philippe, they have got an attacking opening partner for Devdutt Padikkal. While Kohli is RCB’s leading run-scorer, his strike rate of 122 is disheartening, given that he has batted with more aggression in his career. In order to anchor the inning and playing deep, Kohli is actually putting RCB in a hole. That leaves plenty to do for AB de Villiers, who cannot always bail them out.

Bangalore’s bowling has been their biggest positive this season. Yuzvendra Chahal has picked 20 wickets and is a contender for the purple cap, and is very well supported by Washington Sundar in the powerplay.

Chris Morris and Navdeep Saini have been terrific at either end of the innings. Isuru Udana and Mohammed Siraj have come good at different times in the tournament. It is hard to accept the fact that it is the batting that is letting RCB fans down this season, and not the bowling.

A pertinent question for Ricky Ponting, Delhi’s head coach, will be, ‘How to pick his team back up?’ Delhi, after winning 7 out of 9 matches, has lost 4 on a trot- two batting first and two bowling first. Their batting is in total disarray. Prithvi Shaw has been technically flawed for a long time, while Shikhar Dhawan has three single-digit scores after his twin hundreds.

Shreyas Iyer is guilty of throwing away his starts, and Rishabh Pant is yet to arrive at his audacious self. Shimron Hetmyer played a couple of handy knocks earlier in the tournament but still needs to justify his billing. Marcus Stoinis has been DC’s strength in the lower order.

With the disintegration of batting, the bowling confidence too has taken a hit in the last two games; evident by the fact that their strike bowler, Kagiso Rabada has gone wicketless in those matches. While Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Anrich Nortje have been decent in the middle-overs, DC’s fifth bowler, an uncapped Indian player has been leaking runs. Hence they have failed to apply the choke on the opposition batting.

IPL 2020: Match 55: Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore- Match Prediction

Delhi Capitals have been outplayed in all departments in their last two games, while RCB would still take their bowling as a positive even in the recent losses. Batting or bowling first, the RCB bowlers will just need a little more support from their batters to run through the Delhi batting order which is in shambles. The prediction is for RCB to win the game and book a place in the qualifier with Mumbai.

Also Read: IPL 2020: Match 55: Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore – DC Predicted XI