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The Delhi Capitals (DC) continue to stay alive in the IPL 2024 playoffs race after a close win against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 20 runs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday, May 7.
Half-centuries from Jake Fraser-McGurk (50) & Abhishek Porel (65), followed by handy cameos down the order allowed Delhi to post 221/8 in their 20 overs. Sanju Samson was batting like a man possessed and until he was at the crease, it seemed like RR would win the game.
However, once Samson departed for 86, DC clawed their way back into the game and held their nerves to restrict RR to 201/8. While Delhi got the two crucial points, there are still a few areas of concern that they need to address if they want to have a shot at the playoffs.
Let's take a look at three such areas:
#3 DC's inconsistent pace attack
Kuldeep Yadav's 18th over on Monday arguably proved to be the difference between the two teams as he conceded just four runs and picked up two wickets in those six balls, deservingly winning the Player of the Match award. However, this isn't the first time that spin has bailed Delhi out.
Apart from the one on Tuesday, Rishabh Pant and his men have won some really close games at home against the Gujarat Titans (one run) and against Mumbai Indians (10 runs). The common factor in such games is how expensive most of their pacers have been.
While Khaleel Ahmed has been effective with the new ball and Rasikh Dar has been handy with his change-ups, DC have failed to find consistency in their pace bowling, unable to get the best out of Anrich Nortje, Lizaad Williams and others. They will need to find a way to iron out these issues or it could cost them when the spinners like Kuldeep have an off day.
#2 Rishabh Pant's recent slump in form
Rishabh Pant's knock of 15(13) against RR wasn't the first instance of him looking scratchy in the middle. He found it difficult to time the ball in his past few innings as sweetly as he did in the first half of IPL 2024.
Delhi have been promoting the likes of Axar Patel and have tried to make optimum use of Pant's entry point. However, with the business end of the tournament fast approaching, DC need their captain back in full flow.
Rishabh's form is also likely to be closely monitored by the Indian team management ahead of the T20 World Cup, especially given how well Sanju Samson has been playing of late.
#1 Overdependence on Jake Fraser-McGurk
Not many will argue against the fact that Jake Fraser-McGurk has been the biggest reason why DC are still alive in the competition. Coming in as a replacement for Harry Brook, Fraser-McGurk has set the IPL on fire with four half-centuries in seven games.
He has scored 309 runs in seven matches at a ridiculously high strike rate of 235.87. However, as seen in the game against RR, Delhi seem to lose their way a bit in batting once they lose the opener's wicket. They have continued with the Shai Hope experiment that has given mixed results.
The uncertainty in the middle order also puts pressure on Tristan Stubbs to produce their best in almost every game as a finisher. Delhi may pay a heavy price for not sorting out their batting soon as they seem overdependent on a young opener playing his first IPL season.
