The atmosphere around the Arun Jaitley Stadium will be dominated by positive expectation and high spirits when the Delhi Capitals (DC) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) square off in a crucial IPL 2025 match on Sunday night.

The fact that both teams have 12 points each shows that they are well-rounded, although DC leads RCB in net run rate and has one less loss than them. Both sides are almost tied in terms of how they have approached their batting and bowling strategies, with RCB having won six of their ten meetings versus DC in New Delhi.

According to Cricket-21 data, Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal are largely responsible for RCB’s superior strike rate (161) and run rate (9.7) in batting power play as compared to DC (155 and 9.3, respectively). However, DC has the advantage when it comes to batting in the middle and death overs.

In the middle overs, DC has a strike rate of 152 and a run rate of 9.1, which is higher than RCB’s (139 and 8.3, respectively) because of the firepower of KL Rahul, Axar Patel, Tristan Stubbs, and Ashutosh Sharma. DC’s run rate of 12.3 and strike rate of 205 in the last five overs are both much higher than RCB’s (190 and 11.4, respectively).

Rahul’s 93 not out and Stubbs’ undefeated 38 got DC out of danger after they lost three wickets in the powerplay and set them up for an incredible triumph in their most recent meeting at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

If DC wants to surpass RCB’s top-order batting prowess, they will rely on their middle-field firepower, since they have some purchasing options available for spinners at Kotla, which has a quick outfield and smaller dimensions. With just minor modifications, the scenario is essentially the same when it comes to bowling.

In the powerplay, RCB took more wickets (15) and had a higher economy rate (8.3) than DC (9.8 economy rate and 12 wickets). The hosts’ economy rate (8.5) is higher than the visitors’ (8.8), even though RCB has taken 23 wickets in the middle overs, one more than DC.

Again, in the last overs, RCB (17) takes more wickets than DC (14), but the home team has a higher economy rate (9.5) than the visitors (10). Who knows that in a run-fest, the bowlers’ performances will determine Sunday’s outcome?

While RCB has the services of Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Krunal Pandya, and Suyash Sharma to build on their recent euphoria of the first home victory of this season, DC has been fortunate to have Axar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, and Vipraj Nigam hold their own in crucial moments.

Fans rushed the exit area to sing the name of local boy Kohli as soon as RCB touched down at the Delhi airport before their match against DC. With six IPL fifties at his home ground, the talismanic hitter will once again be the focus of attention on Sunday.

It’s unclear whether Delhi cricket supporters’ newfound appreciation for Rahul, who astounded RCB and Chinnaswamy with a captivating batting show and an exuberant “this is my ground” celebration, will overshadow their love and support for Kohli.

Both teams’ batting and bowling statistics are almost equal; thus, the DC-RCB matchup in New Delhi has all the makings of an exciting contest. There will be intriguing side stories to follow as the pivotal match takes place on Sunday, in a climate of intense hope and anxious expectancy, with just one team celebrating.

When: 7:30 p.m. IST on Sunday, April 27

Where: New Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium

Where to watch: JioHotstar’s live streaming and the Star Sports network’s live broadcast.

Teams:

Axar Patel (captain), Faf du Plessis, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Abishek Porel, Mitchell Starc, Vipraj Nigam, Karun Nair, Ashutosh Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sameer Rizvi, T. Natarajan, Darshan Nalkande, Dushmantha Chameera, Donovan Ferreira, Ajay Mandal, Manvanth Kumar, Tripurana Vijay, and Madhav Tiwari are the Delhi Capitals.

Rajat Patidar (c), Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Dar Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh, Abhinandan Singh, Romario Shepherd, Lungi Ngidi, Nuwan Thushara, Mohit Rathee, and Swastik Chikara are the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.