With dew expected to play a big role, as it has in the previous matches, Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer opted to bowl first at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi in their IPL 2020 game against Royal Challengers Bangalore. This is the penultimate game of the league stage of IPL 2020 and their respective final matches.
Delhi made three changes to their lineup for the must-win tie.
"We will bowl first. Dew is going to play a massive role. Looking at the previous games the surface looks a belter. We have three changes - Rahane, Axar and Sams come in. It's a complicated situation to be and it happens in the IPL," said Iyer.
RCB too made two chanfes to their lineup.
"We have a couple of changes. Gurkeerat Mann misses out, Dube comes in to provide some fire power in the middle. Shahbaz Ahmed comes in for Saini who is not fully fit. It is good to be batting first but we would have bowled had we won the toss. We have been in this situation before and the three finals we have reached we have gone through like this," said RCB skipper Virat Kohli.
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Sams, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Josh Philippe, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers(w), Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Shahbaz Ahmed, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
The winner of this game, in what is a virtual quarterfinal, will finish second in the points table and play against defending champions Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 1. The loser might still be in contention if the margin if defeat is small while ensuring that Sunrisers Hyderabad lose to Mumbai in their final league game of IPL 2020. Not to forget, the two teams also have Kolkata Knight Riders breathing down their neck, following their 60-run win against Rajasthan Royals.
