The 25th match of the Indian Premier League will have the Deccan Chargers and the Rajasthan Royals facing each other at Port Elizabeth.

The Chargers have eight points from five matches; having lost only one match – to the DareDevils. On the other hand, the Royals have five from six matches, having won two and lost three.

The Chargers’ (4/6 at Sky Bet to win match) batting has been heavily dependent on the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Herscehlle Gibbs and Rohit Sharma, but in their previous match, even Dwayne Smith came to the party. Shane Warne may look to make early inroads into the Chargers, knowing well that even Smith can be very vulnerable against the slow bowlers despite his heroics against Daniel Vettori and Amit Mishra. The Royals (23/18 at Expekt.com to beat Deccan Chargers) are definitely underdogs going into the match after their crushing loss to the Chennai Super Kings the other night.

Gibbs (5/2 at Sky Bet) had a rare failure against Delhi on Thursday, but one can expect him to be back into his elements given his run of form. Gilchrist (5/2 at Sky Bet) will continue his buccaneering approach, and if it comes off, then the one can be rest assured that the provided entertainment will be immense.

Sky Bet offers 4/1 for Sharma to be the highest scorer for the Chargers, and the one thing that is striking about him in this tournament has been his consistency. More often than not Sharma could end up being the top batsman for his side, and so I will not be averse from punting on him. Smith (5/1 at Stan James to be top Deccan batsman), on the other hand, hasn’t been one of the most consistent ones around – as his average of less than 15 runs per inning in ODI shows.

The Royals are in a worse state though. None of their top-order batsmen seem to be in any semblance of form, and this includes South African skipper Graeme Smith (5/2 at Sky Bet to be top Royals batsman), who has only one inning of note to his name. Swapnil Asnodkar seems to have been found out with the short ball, while Rob Quiney (10/1 at Stan James) has yet to impress and may not find a place in the side. Yusuf Pathan’s hit and miss play may be a worry, but he looks to be the best bet to be the top scorer from the Royals’ side. Sky Bet offers 5/1 for him to the top Royals’ batsman.

Slowly and steadily, R.P. Singh (9/2 at Stan James) has been moving towards being the purple cap. Even as an Indian international, he had this uncanny knack of picking up wickets at regular intervals and this is what makes him a good bet. On the other hand, Kamran Khan from the Royals injured his foot rather badly and may not make it to the playing eleven; while Shane Warne’s getting smacked around the park a little. My bet is on Munaf Patel (9/2 at Stan James) to be the most economic bowler of the match.

Tip:
Favourite: Deccan Chargers (4/6 at Sky Bet)
Top Rajasthan batsman: Yusuf Pathan (5/1 at Stan James)
Top Deccan batsman: Rohit Sharma (4/1 at Stan James)
Most economic bowler: Munaf Patel (9/2 at Stan James)