Royal Challengers Bangalore’s six-wicket loss at home had them almost on the brink of being ousted from the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). At that point, with four do-or-die games left to play, Royal Challengers came out on top rather convincingly with massive wins on the trot by margins of 144 runs, nine wickets and 82 runs by Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method to boost their chances. However, the job is only three quarters done as they have to win their final match against Delhi Daredevils on Sunday in Raipur to seal a spot in the playoffs, knocking their opponents out of the reckoning in the process.

What their large-margin wins have done is bolster their Net Run Rate to +0.930 with no other team even close. The compressed points table means that six teams are still battling for a place in the playoffs without certainty until the last league stage game.

Virat Kohli’s extraordinary purple patch (865 runs) has had a major part to play in the wins, with the Royal Challengers captain scoring as many as four centuries in the season. One came in a losing cause, but the other three came in substantial wins. AB de Villiers, who has the third-most number of runs in this season after Kohli and David Warner with 597, has been an able accomplice in the team’s quest of sealing matches.

Chris Gayle’s return to form in the last two games has been a welcome change as Royal Challengers’ top-order now seems as lethal as ever, but their bowling continues to struggle. Chris Jordan’s inclusion hasn’t done drastic wonders for the side as he has conceded close to ten an over and has picked up five wickets in six games – four of which came against Gujarat Lions. Yuzvendra Chahal has been their only highlight. Chahal has 16 wickets in 10 matches this season at an average of 18.25.

If the same wicket that was used for the clash against Sunrisers is used, then Chahal will benefit from it as the pitch was gripping a little bit. Also, working in favour of spinners is the size of the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, that makes it hard for batsmen to clear the boundaries.

Zaheer Khan, Daredevils’ astute captain, will use his knowledge of Kohli’s approach to the game and minute nitty-gritties, with the aim to keep him in check as Daredevils themselves are bidding for a spot in the top four. Having beaten Royal Challengers at the M Chinnaswamy stadium earlier in the season, which was their first win in ten games at the venue, they would fancy their chances against Kohli’s unit.

Daredevils have had more than one stand-out performer which bodes well for the side. Their bowling, led primarily by Zaheer and Amit Mishra, has done well to restrict opponents, but their worry will lie with the batting that has been erratic. Karun Nair has recorded some consistent scores, while Chris Morris has chipped in down the order. Rishabh Pant, 18, has turned up with a few significant scores that have come at vital junctures. However, to beat Bangalore, given the menacing rampage they are on, they will need more than a couple of people standing up.

Given Royal Challengers’ inclination towards chasing, than batting first, Daredevils’ best chance would be to get their top three and expose an untested middle-order. Whether or not Daredevils will able to halt Royal Challengers’ rampage will depend highly on the conditions. There was a storm followed by a spurt of rain on the eve of the match, denying Daredevils some practice time. If the game is a washout, both teams will finish with 15 points and hope for a Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders loss – with the former playing Gujarat Lions tonight.

Teams:

Royal Challengers Bangalore (From): Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers, Lokesh Rahul(w), Shane Watson, Sachin Baby, Stuart Binny, Chris Jordan, Sreenath Aravind, Varun Aaron, Yuzvendra Chahal, David Wiese, Vikramjeet Malik, Abu Nechim, Kane Richardson, Iqbal Abdulla, Kedar Jadhav, Harshal Patel, Mandeep Singh, Vikas Tokas, Travis Head, Akshay Karnewar, Sarfaraz Khan, Praveen Dubey, Tabraiz Shamsi, Parvez Rasool

Delhi Daredevils (From): Quinton de Kock(w), Rishabh Pant, Karun Nair, Jean-Paul Duminy, Sanju Samson, Carlos Brathwaite, Pawan Negi, Amit Mishra, Jayant Yadav, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Zaheer Khan(c), Sam Billings, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mayank Agarwal, Imran Tahir, Pawan Suyal, Chris Morris, Akhil Herwadkar, Mohammed Shami, Chama Milind, Shreyas Iyer, Pratyush Singh, Mahipal Lomror, Khaleel Ahmed