IPL 2020 in UAE: Delhi Capitals keep eighth win in sight

Dubai: The Delhi Capitals will be on the lookout for their eighth win when they face an out-of-sorts Kolkata Knight Riders at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Saturday’s early game of the Indian Premier League (IPL), in Abu Dhabi.

Two of the three losses for the Delhi Capitals so far have come in Abu Dhabi, and this is something their ace strike bowler is confident of turning around on Saturday.

“For sure, it is going to be third time lucky for us in Abu Dhabi,” Rabada said. “We will leave it at that. Hope we will be third time lucky.”

Rabada has been a treat to watch so far this season as he leads the best bowler standings for the Purple Cap with 21 wickets to his name. Kings XI Punjab’s experienced Mohammad Shami is in second with 16, while Mumbai Indians’ Jasprit Bumrah and Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Yuzvendra Chahal are joint third with 15 apiece.

For Rabada, there is no secret as he pointed towards a collective effort to keep Delhi at the top of the eight-team standings.

“It’s about realising what works for you and bowling as per the conditions on that day. One needs to trust and understand one’s strengths and use these to win whatever the prevailing conditions,” Rabada said.

Fellow South African Anrich Nortje has played the perfect foil to Rabada’s exploits with the ball as he currently has 12 victims in the nine matches he has figured in so far. Nortje, who only joined the Delhi team as a replacement for Chris Woakes, bowled the fastest delivery at 156.22kph during the current IPL edition on October 14.

“It has been awesome bowling with him. Just like me, he is always willing to learn and he is always giving his best for the team like all of us,” Rabada said.

“At the end of the day, we have a job to do and so far we have done well to be where we are. We are now one game away from qualifying, and hopefully, we will do well in those knockout stages as well. To be called one of the lethal partnerships is some feat, but I believe that for all of us, it is one game at a time. We need to be normal, stay grounded and worry about the next game we have.”

Last Tuesday, the Delhi capitals caved in by five wickets with an over to spare against Kings XI Punjab. “No, I doubt we can call it a wake-up call. It is just a loss, and losses do happen. We need to assess and continue improving,” Rabada said.

“Bearing that in mind, we need to also realise what good came out of that game as well. We need not just focus on the negatives as that ain’t good. We have quality players here and those negatives can go quite a long way in hampering us. So we need to get back up and get ready for the next game. We need to see what we have done wrong and what we have done right.”