Jaipur: Rajasthan Royals meet Delhi Capitals in their second match of the Indian Premier League 2024 season at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Thursday.
RR started their season campaign on a winning note after beating Lucknow Super Giants by 20 runs in Jaipur last week. Skipper Sanju Samson scored an unbeaten half-century to guide the team home, pillared with valuable contributions from Riyan Parag, Trent Boult and Sandeep Sharma.
Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals began their campaign with a loss to Punjab Kings by four wickets.
Rajasthan Royals have won three of their last five matches coming into this match whereas the Capitals have won just one out of their last five.
The two teams have played each other 27 times in the IPL. The Royals have come up victorious on 14 occasions, with the Capitals winning 13.
The most recent meeting between the two was in April last year at the Barsapara Stadium when the Royals pulled off a 57-run victory.
The Sawai Mansingh Stadium last hosted a match between the Royals and the Capitals in 2019 when the visiting side emerged victorious by six wickets.
Rajasthan Royals’ highest score at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur is 214/2 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, achieved during IPL 2023.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler scored quickfire half-centuries to provide Rajasthan Royals an excellent start in their last meeting with Delhi Capitals at Guwahati in IPL 2023. They put on 98 runs off 51 balls for the opening wicket to set the foundation for a huge total of 199/4.
Trent Boult proved a handful with the new ball with his double-wicket maiden in the first over of the chase. Both Boult and Yuzvendra Chahal finished with three wickets each and Delhi fell short by 57 runs.
Sanju Samson looked in ominous form as he continued his love affair with the Sawai Mansingh Stadium crossing 700 runs in the venue. He scored an unbeaten 82 off 52 balls in the IPL 2024 opener to be awarded the Player of the Match.
Samson’s run-scoring spree has extended since IPL 2021. He has registered the most runs by a non-opening batter in the league since then.
Jos Buttler, meanwhile, has scored 383 runs against DC. His strike rate against the Capitals has been 168 – his best against any IPL team (minimum 100 runs). He also has the most fifty-plus scores in the league since last year, with 12. This includes four centuries.
Sandeep Sharma has been a revelation in the death overs for Rajasthan Royals and he showed it once again in their last match. He successfully tamed LSG’s KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran, who were going great guns during the run-chase.
Chahal, who has picked 49 wickets for the Royals in the IPL, is also the highest-wicket taker at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in the current squad, with 15 wickets from 12 matches.