RR, DC aim to keep up with playoffs race

The last time they were home, Delhi Capitals' season had been reduced to mathematics and favours. With no margin for error, their equation was brutally honest - win everything or pack up. In Dharamsala, a stiff 210-tun chase with a refurbished batting order threatened to finally snuff out the last remaining bit of hope. Just then, DC produced the kind of chase that keeps the playoffs race wide open. Now, barely alive but very much kicking, Capitals are back at the Arun Jaitley Stadium that hasn't offered much comfort in recent past. Against Rajasthan Royals is yet another must-win game with the belief flickering, if only just.

Delhi's run at home has bordered on disastrous: just one win in six so far, and five straight defeats at the venue. The batting form, for the department collectively, has dipped with KL Rahul's brief purple patch too now fading into three straight sub-25 scores. No side has lost more wickets in the Powerplay this season than DC, whose top order has failed far more consistently than it has fired. Even the win in Dharamsala needed rescuing acts from the middle and lower-order, with Axar Patel, David Miller and Ashutosh Sharma dragging them through. Miller's mid-season omission had raised eyebrows too, considering no batter averages more in IPL chases at No.5 or lower than the South African.

For two sides battling such grave inconsistencies, the Sunday showdown feels more like a fight to keep that hope flickering a little longer. From winning four in a row to losing five of the next seven, RR have slipped outside of the qualification bracket at no. 5. However, they have two more points than DC, and one extra game in hand, giving them a more realistic shot at regaining their footing in the playoffs race. All that, should they be able to snap out of their recent slump.

"He's a fantastic young player, isn't he? I mean, the talent is absolutely scary. And we want to get him out early. There's no doubt. I think when you play Rajasthan Royals, I think he's the prize wicket. And you want to get him out early because you know the damage he can do if he stays at that crease long enough." -Ian Bell, DC assistant coach, on the Vaibhav Sooryavanshi threat

"I think 'handle' is a strange word. Vaibhav is a supremely talented batter. He's very young. And the key thing for Vaibhav is to enjoy every moment. He'll have good days, he'll have not so good days. It's absolutely fine. The worst thing we can do is clutter his mind. And that's something we avoid. We have a conversation with him if he needs it. It's never technical. It's never to do with cricket. Sometimes you've got to get their minds off the game... The most important thing about Vaibhav that I've seen is he reads the game very well. So he's a smart little kid. And he'll keep understanding himself and the game and how to be in groups as he grows up. But so far, he's been a wonderful addition. Not just in terms of the runs he scores, but around the group. He's held his own with all his senior players. He loves a joke, he loves a smile, he loves a bit of banter. And he's formed some really good relationships. So, sometimes the best thing is to let Vaibhav be Vaibhav." - Kumar Sangakkara, RR head coach, on how he "handles" Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

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