Rajasthan Royals vs. Chennai Super Kings, De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley - 9th May, 2009 SET MAX (8:00 PM IST) - 14:30 GMT
A steamrolling Rajasthan Royals (RR) meets its match in the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on a Saturday evening at the De Beers Diamond Oval. The match in many ways is the clash of the titans - the top two teams in the tournament so far and the finalists of the last year's IPL.
Both sides have won their last three encounters with relative ease. While RR have ironed out their problems in the batting department the Super Kings have stamped their authority on their opponents be it in the bowling or the batting department. The CSK batting prowess is already legendary with three of their top batsmen on the 'Top 10' highest run scorers list in IPL 2009. The explosive batting is well balanced by the depth in their bowling attack which consists of the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan and Shadab Jakati who have been the thorn in the opponents flesh. The team composition is strengthened with MS Dhoni, the charismatic Indian international captain. An explosive batting and a wily bowling attack make CSK a hard team to beat.
RR on the other hand have only recently got their opening pair going and it has immensely bolstered the team's confidence. An explosive opener in Naman Ojha paired with the stocky Graeme Smith make a handy partnership and as witnessed in the previous two encounters can handle both spin and fast bowling with ease. Following the openers is one of T20's biggest hitters - Yusuf Pathan - who can make even the best bowlers look amateurish when he gets going. Besides him, Ravindra Jadeja, Abhishek Raut and Lee Carseldine lend stability to the middle order batting line-up. RR's bowling too has been one of the most productive line-ups in the IPL. With the debutant Amit Singh clicking in the absence of Kamran Khan, RR has found itself a potent bowler who along with Morne Morkel, Munaf Patel and Siddharth Trivedi and the legendary Shane Warne makes up one heck of a bowling attack.
However, the competition between RR and CSK will definitely be one that involves more mind games than a single game of chess. Dhoni and Warne are both adept at adapting to and reading situations better than most others. It will be an interesting contest, or should we say, an intriguing clash between two of cricket's greatest minds. The match can be won or lost depending on which captain pulls out the right tricks out of his bag and has a bit of luck going his way.
Watch out: Young pacer Amit Singh meets 'Matthew 'Haydos' Hayden' for the first time in the tournament. It will be interesting to see how Singh handles the imposing Australian. Yusuf Pathan hasn't fired all guns blazing in the last few matches. This could be his chance and it will be some contest between him and the CSK bowling, in particular Jakati. Another duel to watch out for would be between the two captains - Shane Warne and MS Dhoni.
Duels: Matthew Hayden vs. Amit Singh, MS Dhoni vs. Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan vs. Yusuf Pathan
RR Squad: Shane Warne, Robert Quiney, Abhishek Raut, Morne Morkel, Paul Valthaty, Kamran Khan, Niraj Patel, Mahesh Rawat, Shane Harwood, Siddharth Trivedi, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Munaf patel, Graeme Smith, Tyron Henderson.
Halla Bol!!!
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