The Rajasthan Royals will take on the Deccan Chargers in the 22nd match of the third edition of the IPL at Motera in Ahmedabad. The Royals have two wins from five games whereas the Chargers had lost their first game, but won three successive matches after that.
Had this been a five days back, one wouldn’t have seen Rajasthan come as close to Deccan Chargers as the odds of 6/4 (Sporting Bet) suggest. But with a couple of changes to their side, and the ensuing couple of wins, it has meant that the Royals will have a lot of the pressure taken off their shoulders. Coral offers 8/13 for the Deccan Chargers to win this game.
One of the reasons for this discrepancy is the batting line-ups of the two sides. While the Rajasthan Royals are overly dependent on Yusuf Pathan (9/2 at Blue Square to top-score for Rajasthan) to do the job, the Chargers possess three deadly strikers of the cricket ball. Adam Gilchrist (5/2 at Boylesports to top-score for the Chargers) has been getting the right kind of starts, but will know that he cannot keep getting out within the first six overs, while, apart from him, there is always a Herschelle Gibbs (9/2 at Ladbrokes) and Andrew Symonds (4/1 at Blue Square to be the best Deccan Chargers batsman) to go after the bowling.
Of course, Rajasthan will be bolstered by the selection of Adam Voges (6/1 at Stan James to be the best batsman for his side) who has made things much easier for the middle-order, more so for someone like Pathan, who can now hit the ball as freely as possible. Again, given that the novelty factor surrounding Voges would have worn off, and also because Symonds and Gilchrist would have played against him, back home in Australia, it will be desirable for Warne to have one of the others, Michael Lumb (7/2 at Blue Square) or Faiz Fazal (6/1 at Boylesports to be the best batsman for his side) to assist in the business.
It should be an interesting battle between the two teams, led by two captains who had had their own set of issues while playing for Australia.
Tips:
Favourites: Deccan Chargers (6/4 at Sporting Bet)
Top Deccan batsman: Andrew Symonds (4/1 at Blue Square)
Top Rajasthan batsman: Yusuf Pathan (9/2 at Blue Square)