After arresting their run of defeats at home, a confident Delhi Capitals will hope to keep the juggernaut rolling when they take on Rajasthan Royals in an away Indian Premier League encounter in Jaipur on Monday.

Delhi have been doing better at away games rather than at their home ground but on Saturday night they managed to reverse that at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground with a five-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab, helping them remain on third spot in the points table. That game was another reflection of a new-found belief in the Delhi camp, as they look to reach playoffs for the first time since 2012.

Rajasthan Royals also won their home match on Saturday by the same margin against a formidable Mumbai Indians as Steve Smith celebrated his return at the helm with a captain’s innings. While Delhi have fared better away from home, the pitch in Jaipur has resembled the one at Kotla in terms of the sluggishness, so Shreyas Iyer and Co will need to rein in their flamboyant shot-making.

With both teams rejuvenated after their respective victories, it will be an interesting battle for one-upmanship. Rajasthan would be a bit more desperate than Delhi as they are languishing at the second last position in the points table with just three wins from nine outings.

RR would look to continue to capitalise on their home advantage under new captain Smith. But they would certainly miss their prolific opener Jos Buttler.

Ajinkya Rahane, who has been struggling with his form and also seemed to be out of ideas, was eventually stripped of captaincy and next he might also lose his opening slot to Rahul Tripathi.

Tripathi was impressive during his 45-ball fifty against Kings XI Punjab, while Rahane was too slow in his 21-ball 26 as Rajasthan failed to chase down 182, finishing at 170/7.

With Smith back in form, having almost recovered from his elbow injury, and the youngsters like Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag coming good with the bat, Rajasthan would fancy their chances.

However their bowling still remains a worry in death overs. Except Jofra Archer and leg spinner Shreyas Gopal, none of the bowlers have been consistent.

Delhi Capitals have a solid batting line up with a blend of experience and youth. Senior opener Shikhar Dhawan laid the foundation with a fluent 56 of 41 balls and skipper Shreyas Iyer contributed with an unbeaten 58 off 49 balls to win their last game.

With Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw at the top and the likes of Rishabh Pant, Iyer and Colin Ingram to follow, Delhi would start as a confident batting unit. Down the order, even Axar Patel is capable of accelerating the run-rate.

Dhawan’s return to form is a big plus for the Capitals. Not only is the left-hander scoring runs but over the last four games, he is scoring them at a healthy strike-rate of almost 150 as well.

As far as bowling is concerned, Delhi Capitals heavily depend on Kagiso Rabada although they have variety in medium pacers Ishant Sharma and Chris Morris, with spinners Sandeep Lamichhane, Amit Mishra and Axar Patel.

Another victory for Delhi will brightening their chances of making the play-offs. The Capitals are looking dangerous and this is even without Shaw and Pant finding any real consistency. They have plenty of match winners in an outfit that is gaining confidence with every passing game

Teams:

Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Shubham Ranjane, Ashton Turner, Steve Smith, Stuart Binny, Shreyas Gopal, Sudhesan Midhun, Jaydev Unadkat, Ish Sodhi, Prashant Chopra, Mahipal Lomror, Oshane Thomas, Aryaman Birla, Riyan Parag, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jofra Archer, Krishnappa Gowtham, Liam Livingstone, Varun Aaron, Jos Buttler, Shahshank Singh, Manan Vohra, Rahul Tripathi

Delhi Capitals: Shreyas Iyer (c), Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Colin Ingram, Keemo Paul, Axar Patel, Rahul Tewatia, Amit Mishra, Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Hanuma Vihari, Ankush Bains, Chris Morris, Sherfane Rutherford, Jalaj Saxena, Sandeep Lamichhane, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Nathu Singh, Bandaru Ayyappa, Colin Munro, Manjot Kalra.

Match starts at 8 pm IST.

With iplt20.com and PTI inputs