Bolstered by the arrival of Ben Stokes, Rajasthan Royals will hope for a better showing from its misfiring top order as they try to settle scores against second-placed Delhi Capitals in their return leg IPL match, in Dubai, on Wednesday.
The Capitals had beaten Royals by 46 runs last week and Steve Smith's men will look to return the compliment when they meet for the second time in the tournament.
The last time the two teams clashed, Royals didn't have Stokes in the ranks and even though the England all-rounder didn't set the stage on fire in his first game but his presence inspired the former champions to snap a four-match losing streak with a five-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
"With Stokesy back, it brings a nice balance to us. He just bowled one over as he just got out of a lockdown and is just working back into things," Smith had said.
While Stokes will be an important cog in the Royals wheel, the team will also have to fix its top order which has been short of runs in the last five games, leaving too much for the lower-order to get.
Skipper Smith and Sanju Samson have failed to make any significant contribution with the bat since setting the Sharjah ground on fire in their first two matches.
Jos Buttler produced a superb 44-ball 70 against Mumbai Indians but didn't capitalise on the starts in the last two matches.
In fact, if it wasn't for Rahul Tewatia, the Royals would still be in the dumps. The all-rounder, who had blasted five sixes against Kings XI Punjab, once again rescued Royals with a 28-ball 45 in their last game against Sunrisers.
Delhi, on the other hand, were brought down by Mumbai Indians in their last game and Shreyas Iyer's men will look to shrug off the odd defeat and get back to the top with a professional display.
The Capitals possess an explosive batting department as well as a formidable bowling unit with Kagiso Rabada emerging as the best bowler this season, snaring 17 wickets so far.
He has been supported well by fellow South African pacer Anrich Nortje with eight wickets. The spin department has also functioned well as Ravichandran Ashwin too has bowled well in the Powerplay and along with Axar Patel, has done well to suffocate the opposition teams.
However, it was Marcus Stoinis, whose all-round show floored Royals in their last face-off and Smith would hope that his side has his match in Stokes.
For Capitals, Shikhar Dhawan's return to form further boosts their batting order, featuring Prithvi Shaw and Iyer in the top four.
However, with wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant ruled out for a week due to a hamstring injury, Capitals have been forced to drop Shimron Hetmyer and include Australian Alex Carey. It also gave Ajinkya Rahane his first match of this IPL and he could get another opportunity against Royals.
Teams:
Rajasthan Royals: Steven Smith (captain), Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson (w/k), Andrew Tye, Kartik Tyagi, Ankit Rajpoot, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Mahipal Lomror, Oshane Thomas, Riyan Parag, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, Akash Singh, David Miller, Manan Vohra, Shashank Singh, Varun Aaron, Tom Curran, Robin Uthappa, Aniruddha Joshi, Jofra Archer.
Delhi Capitals: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shimron Hetmyer, Kagiso Rabada, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Rishabh Pant (w/k), Ishant Sharma, Axar Patel, Sandeep Lamichhane, Keemo Paul, Daniel Sams, Mohit Sharma, Anrich Nortje, Alex Carey (w/k), Avesh Khan, Tushar Deshpande, Harshal Patel, Marcus Stoinis, Lalit Yadav.
Match starts at 7.30pm IST.
