IPL 2024 DC v GT Preview - The boundaries are closing in

Key match stats

Arun Jaitley Stadium IPL Records

Pitch Report Arun Jaitley Stadium 10 most recent IPL matches

Team form DC vs GT
DC: LLWWL
GT: LLWLW

Recent meetings: DC won by 6 wickets

Weather forecast Arun Jaitley Stadium

General Forecast: Dry and Clear
Chance of dew: Low

Preview DC vs GT

Just when it looked like Delhi Capitals might be about to get some momentum in their season they came across a Sunrisers team who reminded them of their many shortcomings.

Having dismissed today's opponents Gujarat Titans for just 89 last week, the Capitals bowlers were treated with distain here at the Arun Jaitely as the visitors scored 266. We've seen some big scoring in this year's IPL but chasing for 20 overs at a required run-rate of 13 is still going to need something special.

Neither of these sides has really been able to match the power hitting that we've seen from the teams currently towards the top of the IPL. For their part, Gujarat limped to victory against Punjab Kings in pursuit of a modest total in their last match.

The Gujarat top order which has been so important in their run to 2 finals in 2 years, suddenly looks like a batting unit from 20 years ago. Strike rates of around the 130 mark simply don't cut it anymore and with regular middle order collapses as well, it's difficult to see how GT can acquire the necessary wins to reach the playoffs again.

Delhi Capitals and been revitalized by the addition of Fraser-McGurk to their line-up, a batsmen who is at least willing to trade punches in this high-scoring season. Do Gujarat have anyone who can up the ante in their squad? Looking down their squad list the answer is a resounding no!

However, true big hitting might not be necessary on this Arun Jaitely pitch. In the match against SRH we saw that some of the boundaries behind square were just a 56 metre hit! You'd back your average club cricketer to be able to clear that let alone an international star. Prior to that match, the Arun Jaitely pitch report shows a 6 being hit once every 15 balls. The game here at the weekend saw a 6 hit every 7.5 balls!

That being said, run-scoring through the middle overs did become a bit tougher once the spinners came on. We continued to see the trend shown in the Arun Jaitley pitch report above that spin is an effective weapon on this pitch. GT for their part opted for 3 frontline spinners in their game in Mohali and will likely continue with at least 2 in this match.

Delhi Capitals swing bowlers ran through this Gujarat top order last week in conditions where they found swing and seam. They looked to do something similar here against SRH but came up against an ultra-aggressive opening pair who put their full lengths to the sword.

Gujarat need to take a leaf out of the Sunrisers book and not be so passive at the top of the order. In their match against DC last week, their batsmen looked half asleep at the crease with a genuine lack of intent in anything that they did. Bear in mind that in the last match here at the Arun Jaitely, 46% of the total runs scored by both teams came in the powerplay! A fast start seems a must.

With both sides already having played 8 matches this season, it really is a must win fixture. GT may have 2 more points than DC but their net run-rate is the worst in the league so they are likely to need a minimum of 8 wins. The same is true for the Capitals who if they lose today would need to win all their remaining games to have a realistic chance of qualification.

DC GT head to head

GT bowling vs DC batting

Umesh Yadav was left out of Gujarat's XI for their last game with the Titans also deciding to drop Spencer Johnson and replace him with a 3rd spinner.

Umesh Yadav Arun Jaitley Stadium T20 record

Yadav's experience of this venue could be crucial. His 31 wickets in IPL matches at the Arun Jaitley is the most by a pace bowler in the history of the tournament, 2nd only to Amit Mishra (58 IPL wickets) overall.

The challenge for teams facing Delhi Capitals at the moment is how to stop Jake Fraser-McGurk. The answer based on the small sample of top flight T20 cricket he's played appears to be wrist-spin. The only bowler he's really struggled to get away so far this tournament is Ravi Bishnoi and his career T20 stats against wrist-spinners underline a potential weakness.

Fraser-McGurk head to head against wrist-spin in T20 cricket

Sunrisers had Mayank Markande in their side for the last IPL match Fraser-McGurk played in but he's hardly a big spinner of the ball. Expect one or both of Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed to be introduced very early on to challenge the young Aussie.

DC bowling vs GT batting

As well as slow run-scoring, the major concern for GT is that they've been bowled out twice in their last 3 matches. The importance of Shubman Gill's wicket can't be underestimated but it seems that following his exploits in the 2023 season, the Titans have become solely reliant on him to score their runs.

Opposition	Score at fall of Shubman Gill's wicket	Collapsed to
LSG	54 for 0	61 for 4
DC	11 for 0	89 all out
PBKS	66 for 1	97 for 4

GT collapses following the dismissal of Shubman Gill

The Capitals decision to retain Anrich Nortje ahead of his South African colleague Kagiso Rabada prior to the last super auction hasn't really paid off. Nortje's first 2 seasons in a DC shirt saw him take regular wickets throughout the innings and limit scoring. He's struggled to recapture that wicket taking form though and is currently conceding over 2 runs a ball in IPL 2024!

Shumban Gill head to head Anrich Nortje T20 cricket

Pace however is always an asset and DC might be tempted to unleash him a bit earlier in order to get the all important Shubman Gill wicket.

The addition of Mukesh Kumar to the the DC attack might also work in Nortje's favour. He's worth an over at the death but requiring Nortje to bowl 2 of the last 5 was really hurting DC's ability to control scoring late in the innings.

In seasons prior, Mukesh's economy rate at the death of 11.7 wouldn't be quite so impressive. However, in the context of some of the scoring we're seeing so far this season, anyone who can maintain an economy of under 12 an over at the death is very valuable to their side especially if they're playing on this postage stamp of a ground.

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