RR vs DC Highlights, IPL 2021: Morris helps Rajasthan Royals beat Delhi Capitals by 3 wickets

Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant (w/c), Ajinkya Rahane, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Woakes, Ravichandran Ashwin, Lalit Yadav, Kagiso Rabada, Tom Curran, Avesh Khan

Manan Vohra, Sanju Samson (w/c), David Miller, Jos Buttler, Shivam Dube, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Chetan Sakariya, Jaydev Unadkat, Mustafizur Rahman

Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson wins the toss, opts to bowl first against Delhi Capitals

"Looks like another great surface, really nice grass coverage on it. There's plenty of runs on this pitch again. You've got to get really straight with the new ball, try and not to let those runs go sideways. Limit the boundaries, make the ones and twos really hard to get, you'll come out on top." - Simon Doull

In the 6 matches so far, batsmen have scored a total of 1985 runs. The runs are scored at a strike rate of 137.6. One hundred and 13 fifties are hit, with the top score of 119 by Sanju Samson. 81 sixes are hit in 6 games; and bowlers have taken 79 wickets so far.

Following a frustrating four-run loss in the high-scoring opener on Monday against Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals (RR) would have taken comfort in the fact that they came close to a record run-chase. But the news of talismanic all-rounder Ben Stokes being ruled out of the entire 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with a freak finger injury would be a massive blow for the wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson-led team. The depleted Royals face an uphill task against favourites Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday in what is likely to be another high-scoring affair. DC have previously won five IPL games against the Jaipur-based franchise including two in the UAE last year and two in India in 2019.

Shikhar Dhawan has scored 547 runs against Rajasthan Royals in 19 innings at an average of 32.17. He hit six half-centuries and scored at a strike rate of 130.23.

In 22 IPL games Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals played against each other, both have won 11 matches each. But it’s advantage DC as they have won the last five encounters between the two sides.

On the bowling front, Chris Woakes (2/18) and Avesh Khan (2/23) had a good outing in the first game and would look to carry on their form but the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Tom Curran, Amit Mishra and Stoinis had a forgettable outing and would be desperate to make amends tonight.

Both Shikhar Dhawan (85 off 54) and Prithvi Shaw (72 off 38) played their strokes from the word go and looked in complete control during their knocks. Pant (15 not out) and Marcus Stonis (14) did the rest as DC comfortably reached home with eight balls to spare.

Last edition's runners-up Delhi Capitals had a perfect start to their campaign as they defeated three-time champions CSK with consummate ease. Opting to field, DC had allowed CSK to pile up a competitive 188/7 but Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw made a short walk of the target with a 138-run opening partnership, that laid the foundation for the win.

The major worry for RR team management would be the performance of its bowling unit. RR bowling unit looked rusty and completely out of sorts in their opener. Barring young Chetan Sakariya (3/31), who had a fantastic debut, all other RR bowlers went for runs and looked completely clueless against opposition batsmen. Mustafizur Rahman, Chris Morris, Stokes, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia -- all went for big runs and needed to pull up their socks quickly.