Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Capitals Prediction & Match Preview – IPL 2026 43rd Match

Rajasthan Royals host Delhi Capitals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur in the 43rd match of IPL 2026 on Friday, 1 May. Riyan Parag’s side are in confident mood with the bat after a six-wicket win over Punjab Kings in which they chased a huge target of 223. Their bowling, however, has been an issue, and Parag will want a better display to strengthen their standing in the table.

At the top, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been in explosive form and will open with Yashasvi Jaiswal. Dhruv Jurel, Parag and Donovan Ferreira, who made 52 in the last game, give the middle order stability and power, with Shubham Dubey, Ravindra Jadeja and Dasun Shanaka adding balance. Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger will have the new ball against a DC top order that has been out of form, with Jadeja and Ravi Bishnoi expected to control the middle overs.

Delhi Capitals, led by Axar Patel, are coming off a heavy defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru, where they were bowled out for 75 and lost by nine wickets. They are seventh and need a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. KL Rahul is key at the top alongside Sahil Parakh, Nitish Rana has shown promise in the middle order, and Sameer Rizvi and Tristan Stubbs will be expected to build partnerships, with Axar, David Miller and Abishek Porel needed lower down.

Delhi’s bowling has not been effective this season. Dushmantha Chameera and Kyle Jamieson need early wickets, while Axar and T Natarajan must hold things tight in the middle overs, with Kuldeep Yadav also important. Our preview gives Delhi a slight edge to bounce back, but Rajasthan’s batting depth makes this a close call.

Probable playing XI

Pitch report

The Sawai Mansingh Stadium pitch is generally balanced but leans slightly towards batters in T20s, with good bounce and carry early that lets stroke-makers play freely in the powerplay. Scores of 170–190 have been common in recent games. As the match goes on the surface can slow and turn two-paced, bringing spinners and bowlers with cutters into play. Teams often prefer to chase here.

Weather

On 1 May at 7:30 pm local time, Jaipur is expected to be hot and dry but more comfortable than during the day, with temperatures of around 30–33°C, falling through the evening. Skies should be mostly clear with very little chance of rain, so a full game is expected. A mild dew factor could emerge late and help the side batting second.

Expected scores

• 1st innings: 170–185
• 2nd innings: 165–180

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