IPL 2025: DC host formidable GT as playoff race tightens
What's the story
Delhi Capitals (DC) will host Gujarat Titans (GT) in the 60th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.
The match, which is extremely crucial for the home team, will be played on May 18 at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
With the tournament nearing its climax, both teams will be extra vigilant about their strategies and on-field performances.
Here we look at the preview and key stats.
Pitch conditions
Arun Jaitley Stadium favors batters
The pitch at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi is expected to be more on the batter's side than the bowler's.
However, pacers might get some help in the initial half of the match.
The toss will be crucial, and the captain who calls it right should look to chase first.
Fans can watch the game live on the Star Sports Network and stream the same on the JioHotstar app and website (7:30pm IST).
GT
Gujarat Titans leads the points table
Gujarat Titans are sitting at the top of the points table, having won eight out of their 11 matches.
They have been brilliant across all departments and are among the favorites to taste glory this season.
Under young captain Shubman Gill's leadership, a win in New Delhi will guarantee them a top-four finish in IPL 2025.
They, however, would want to finish among the top two teams from here on.
DC
Delhi Capitals must win to secure playoff spot
In contrast, Delhi Capitals began their campaign with a four-match winning streak but lost momentum midway.
Under the captaincy of Axar Patel, the team has won six out of 11 matches and needs to win all remaining games to qualify for the playoffs without depending upon other results.
This scenario adds an extra layer of excitement as no team has officially secured a spot yet.
H2H
Head-to-head record is evenly matched
The head-to-head record between Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans is evenly matched with both teams winning three out of six encounters, as per ESPNcricinfo.
The last encounter, which took place on April 19 earlier this season, fell in favor of the Titans.
Meanwhile, GT have a win and a defeat against the home team at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
XIs
Here are the probable XIs
DC (Probable XI): Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel (wk), Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel (c), Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan. Impact sub: Mohit Sharma.
GT (Probable XI): Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Arshad Khan, Gerald Coetzee, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna. Impact sub: Sherfane Rutherford.
Stats
Here are the key performers
With 381 runs at a strike rate of 142.16, KL Rahul is DC's leading run-getter in IPL 2025.
Kuldeep Yadav has taken 12 wickets as his economy rate is a sensational 6.74.
Sai Sudharsan has scored 509 runs at 46.27 in IPL 2025.
Jos Buttler (500 at 71.42) and Shubman Gill (508 at 50.80) have also been brilliant with the bat.
With 20 scalps at a solid 16.45, Prasidh Krishna is the joint-leading wicket-taker this year.
Poll
