Delhi Daredevils welcome Rajasthan Royals to the Feroz Shah Kotla on Wednesday evening where victory is a must-win for both teams.
Both sides go into the match looking to bounce back from their defeats. Delhi, rooted to the bottom with four points, will aim to make amends for their 13-run loss to Chennai Super Kings on Monday, while Rajasthan, who are two points better off were beaten by Sunrisers Hyderbad on Sunday.
We look at the key points ahead of the match.
ANOTHER DEFEAT FOR DELHI WILL BE THE END OF THE ROAD
Ricky Ponting’s side know what’s at stake. Win and they keep their slim play-off hopes alive. Lose and they will be the first side to be eliminated from the competition.
Every match for Delhi is crucial now. If they want to win their remaining six matches and make the play-offs, they cannot afford to put a foot wrong.
They have the joint top wicket-taker in Trent Boult with 11 scalps while Rishabh Pant and captain Shreyas Iyer has compiled most of the the runs this term. Vijay Shankar scored 54 against Chennai but he feels they need to get the basics right if they are to pull off an unlikely passage into the play-offs.
“We, as a team, are doing well but it is the small things which is changing the entire result of the game,” he said.
“We were chasing 80 from six overs or something against Chennai, we got close to the target, lost by 13 runs. We tried our best and we would look to move forward from this and look to do better and build ourself into a good team.”
BEN STOKES AND JOS BUTTLER MUST STEP UP
England international Ben Stokes has yet to live up to his £1.4m price tag so far but his employers will be hoping a match against the bottom side can reignite the all-rounder. The 26-year-old has struggled with bat and ball with 45 being his highest score while taking only one wicket.
His international team-mate Jos Buttler hasn’t fared well either with 29 his highest score. Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson have been Royals’ best batsmen but their defeat to Sunrisers was another prime example that the rest of the batsmen have to step up.
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DELHI DAREDEVILS: