New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) A rejuvenated Rajasthan Royals will look to reclaim their early-season momentum and solidify their ambitions for entering the playoffs when they take on Delhi Capitals in a must-win IPL 2026 clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday evening.

RR suffering five defeats in their last seven outings has sparked fears of them entering a chronic second-half wobble, a trend that proved fatal for the franchise in the last two seasons. The Riyan Parag-led side, which once looked invincible after four successive wins, now finds itself on a slippery slope.

With long gap between their fixtures, RR have tumbled to fifth spot after being at third place with 12 points just a fortnight ago. All of this has left them in a desperate scrap for survival in the race to playoffs.

The good news for RR is that their opponents DC are in no better shape, especially at home. Axar Patel-led DC are carrying the worst net run rate among playoffs aspirants and need a win to stay mathematically alive. But a defeat on Sunday officially ends their campaign.

RR will firmly lean on teenaged opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to set the tone. With 440 runs this season and a staggering strike rate of 237, Sooryavanshi’s ability to dominate the powerplay - where he has already hit 30 sixes - will be central to RR’s batting approach at the venue with short square boundaries.

But Sooryavanshi will have to survive a stern examination against DC’s pace spearhead Mitchell Starc. Left-handed Sooryavanshi has feasted on pace in the tournament - 32 of his 40 sixes have come against fast bowlers. Starc took three wickets in the reverse fixture against RR, but that was a different pitch in Jaipur and Sunday’s game will demand more from him.

Alongside Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal needs to rediscover his early-season authority. After two fifties in his first four outings, Jaiswal has managed just 132 runs in seven innings since, averaging only 18.9. Two of Jaiswal’s dismissals have off short balls from pacers. His response to this challenge will also define RR's powerplay fortunes.

Dhruv Jurel started brilliantly but has averaged under 19.7 in his last seven innings. His vulnerability against spin - averaging 17.6 against wrist spin this season and being dismissed five times by them - opens a door for Axar, Vipraj Nigam or an off-colour Kuldeep Yadav to take him out quickly.

The middle order has been RR's persistent headache – captain Riyan Parag has averaged just 23 and his one good knock ironically came against DC, when he cracked 90 in Jaipur. Shimron Hetmyer has been a shadow of his blistering self, averaging 13 at a strike rate of 113.

RR’s finishing touches have largely been carried by Donovan Ferreira, who has been outstanding in the slog overs - amassing 98 runs at a strike rate of 265 in overs 17-20. Shubham Dubey and Ravindra Jadeja have chipped in with the bat, but RR needs their middle order to click collectively.

With the ball, RR will need Jofra Archer to return to his best self. The England pacer took 13 wickets in his first eight outings, but in the last three games, Archer has picked just two wickets at 12 runs per over. RR's domestic pace attack has also been on the expensive side, as has overseas pacer Nandre Burger.

Tushar Deshpande is leaking at 12.1 runs per over, while Sandeep Sharma is not far behind at 10.9 and Brijesh Sharma has gone for more than 10 runs per over in five out of nine outings. With Jadeja being steady with the ball in the middle overs, it will be interesting to see whether RR persist with Yash Raj Punja or bring back Ravi Bishnoi.

Meanwhile, DC will be looking to end their dismal run at home on a high. Their batting hopes rest heavily on KL Rahul, who, despite four successive low scores, boasts of a formidable record against RR with an average of 51.6. He will face a stern test against Archer, who has dismissed him three times in T20s.

While DC’s top order has lacked consistency and Tristan Stubbs has had an up and down season, their finishers David Miller and Ashutosh Sharma have been clinical with strike-rates of 230 and 218 respectively in the final four overs.

Rahul and Miller have handled Jadeja well in the past, but Axar has been vulnerable in batting against quality spin this season - averaging just 12.5. The all-round returns of Madhav Tiwari and Auqib Nabi against Punjab Kings were an encouraging subplot DC will hope to build on.

In all, the equation remains stiff for both teams. DC must find a way to break their five-match losing streak at home or officially bow out of the competition. Meanwhile, RR will need to arrest their familiar second‑half slide or risk being engulfed by it once again, as another defeat will make their path to playoffs significantly tougher.

When: Sunday, May 17, 7:30 PM IST

Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi

Where to watch: Star Sports Network for live TV broadcast and JioHotstar for live streaming

Squads:

Delhi Capitals: Axar Patel (captain), KL Rahul (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Karun Nair, David Miller, Pathum Nissanka, Tristan Stubbs, Sameer Rizvi, Nitish Rana, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Ashutosh Sharma, Dushmantha Chameera, Lungi Ngidi, Vipraj Nigam, Sahil Parakh, Prithvi Shaw, Abishek Porel, Ajay Mandal, Tripurana Vijay, Madhav Tiwari, Auqib Nabi Dar, Mitchell Starc, Kyle Jamieson and Rehan Ahmed

Rajasthan Royals: Riyan Parag (captain), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Donovan Ferreira, Brijesh Sharma, Jofra Archer, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Dasun Shanaka, Nandre Burger, Ravi Bishnoi, Sandeep Sharma Lhuan-Dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Aman Rao Perala, Adam Milne, Kuldeep Sen, and Kwena Maphaka.

--IANS

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