DC vs RR: Axar vs Jadeja, Jaiswal Slump, Death Over Fireworks Key Battles

Delhi's slog overs' pyros, Jaiswal's slump, Axar vs Jadeja: Talking points ahead of DC vs RR clash

New Delhi, May 17

After a win over five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in their first match at home, DC's run at home has been a horror story, having lost their next five matches. The horror story has unfolded in the most shocking ways possible, page by page: A rare miscalculation from veteran David Miller cost them the clash against GT by a run; a mammoth 265-run target was chased down by PBKS; a 'powerplay from hell' reduced them to 8/6 against RCB and eventually bundled them out for 75 runs; and then they got flattened by KKR and CSK, two other teams on the rise.

Here are some talking points ahead of the match:

-Axar vs Jadeja: A match-up of two premium spin all-rounders.

During the previous away clash against Punjab Kings (PBKS), DC skipper Axar Patel finally found some crucial runs, scoring a quickfire fifty to put a massive dent on PBKS' top-two chances. This makes his match-up against Ravindra Jadeja, a veteran spinner still capable of magic, a must-watch battle.

Axar has looted 81 runs in 43 balls against Jadeja at a strike rate of 188.37, including two fours and eight sixes, and has never fallen to him in 12 innings, as per Cricbuzz.

-DC brings death over fire; could Archer pour water over it?

The Delhi Capitals, despite their largely underwhelming season filled with 'what ifs', are a lethal batting team in death overs, with their scoring rate in this phase being 11.4, the second-best so far, as per ESPNCricinfo.

David Miller (strike rate of 230 at death this season) and Ashutosh Sharma (strike rate of 219) have often produced fireworks for the Capitals in the slog overs, and this is one entertaining pair to watch.

However, Archer could come in handy at death against Miller, who has kept Miller quiet, dismissing him twice in five innings, with just 19 runs made at a strike rate of 90.

So far in the tournament, Miller has scored 174 runs in eight innings at an average of 43.50 and a strike rate of over 155, including a fifty. Ashutosh has been even more fiery with a strike rate of 173.07, having contributed a handy 135 runs in six innings at an average of 27.00 and a best score of 39.

-Could 'The Don' turn on his six-hitting machine?

Donovan Ferreira has been a sensation for the Rajasthan Royals down the order, having made 233 runs in eight innings at an average of 38.83 and a strike rate of 177.86, with two fifties. Despite batting in the death overs phase only three times, he has smashed 11 sixes in this phase, the highest by a batter in the tournament so far, with a balls-per-six ratio of 2.6, as per ESPNCricinfo.

-Mukesh Kumar: Could pacers' fine record vs lefties break the Jaiswal-Sooryavanshi stand?

Mukesh Kumar has taken just six wickets for DC this season at an average of 52.16and an economy rate of 10.67. He has fared much better against lefties, having taken four wickets at an average of 24.25 and an economy rate of 9.09. Against right-handers, he has taken just two wickets at an average of 108 and an economy rate of 11.78.

He could be an important match-up in this game against a left-handed pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The former has been poor in the second half. In his first six matches, he made 223 runs at an average of 55.75 and struck two fifties, but in the next five innings, he has made just 92 runs with 51 of them coming against PBKS.

Squads: Delhi Capitals Squad: KL Rahul(w), Abishek Porel, Sahil Parakh, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel(c), David Miller, Ashutosh Sharma, Madhav Tiwari, Auqib Nabi Dar, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Starc, Mukesh Kumar, Pathum Nissanka, Sameer Rizvi, Vipraj Nigam, Tripurana Vijay, Nitish Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Dushmantha Chameera, Kyle Jamieson, Rehan Ahmed, Karun Nair, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Prithvi Shaw Rajasthan Royals Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag(c), Ravindra Jadeja, Donovan Ferreira, Shubham Dubey, Dasun Shanaka, Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande, Yash Raj Punja, Brijesh Sharma, Adam Milne, Ravi Singh, Sushant Mishra, Ravi Bishnoi, Sandeep Sharma, Nandre Burger, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Kwena Maphaka, Kuldeep Sen, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Vignesh Puthur, Aman Rao Perala.

— ANI