It’s a direct clash for a play-off spot between the Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur on Wednesday in match 55 of the Indian Premier League. The home team have lost 2 games in a row that have given their play-off push a serious stutter, but with this clash of ginormous proportions one expects Shane Warne to have his lads up and ready to give it their all. With 5 wins in a row RCB are the most in-form and high flying team in the league at present and no-one really wants to face them at this moment. With a lot at stake and only a few odd games to go, this match could just turn out to be one of the best encounters of the IPL season thus far.
The big question heading into this match is whether Rajasthan will be allowed to pick the pitch that suits their playing style or will the BCCI once again dictate the outcome of the match by playing politics. With Warne crying foul, maybe the IPL Governing Council will just want to see the season out. (read more)
Rajasthan Royals
A poor bowling display overlapped by an even poorer display with the bat resulted in the undoing of Rajasthan in their fortress of a stadium against Chennai on Monday night. The Royals were set a mammoth target of 197 in 20 overs and one backed the home team on the simple premise that they were kings on the lands of the Thar. But Shane Warne watched in contempt as his team were bundled out for a meagre 133 with Ajinkya Rahane making the only respect-worthy contribution with his half century. Johan Botha was the only economical bowler for Rajasthan who were otherwise bamboozled by Chennai superior batting. It was the kind of lopsided defeat that one doesn’t expect from a play-off aspiring team.
Rajasthan Royals have a good squad with very confident experienced and renowned international experience. Rahul Dravid is the team’s water carrier and ensures that the flair players around him can express themselves. Shane Watson and Ross Taylor at the top take the attack to the opposition especially the former who can awe even the deadliest bowler in the world on his day. The bowling line-up is spear headed by Shane Warne himself who marshals a group of oddly talented Indian bowlers in the team.
Johan Botha and Shane Watson give Warne equal potency with bat and ball and one can see why RR have been strong this season. More recently their dip in form has come as a result of cohesive failure on the field. The bowlers are unable to back Warne and Botha’s economical bowling with wickets and the batsman cannot seem to support or play around a performing player. One can only say that this is just a rotten patch and RR are just looking for an opportunity to bounce back, perhaps on a pitch that suits their style of play a little more!
Royal Challengers Bangalore
RCB made it 5 in 5 after thrashing the in-form Kochi Tuskers by 9 wickets in their last outing. The Tuskers were restricted to 125/9 in their 20 overs. Daniel Vettori and his bowling unit were top notch as every player who bowled more than an over picked up wickets. Sreenath Aravind gave another impressive display with the ball, picking up 2 wickets and conceding only 20 runs in lieu of all the damage he caused. RCB required just 3 batsmen to successfully chase down the modest total. Gayle, Dilshan and Kohli strolled past Kochi’s bowling attack giving Bangalore no cause of worry at any moment in those 13 overs.
Bangalore were always one of the strongest team’s on paper and it is exciting to see them actually live upto the expectations of the team owners. Daniel Vettori has finally managed to get his team together after the initial hiccups. The New Zealand Captain will be profusely thanking Chris Gayle for his huge contribution in the team’s revival. The West Indian's explosion destorys opponents with such ease that it sends chills across the stadium. He is the only batsman with 2 centuries in IPL 4 and his innings are often more annihilating than those of Virender Sehwag. With Dilshan (in his last game before he heads to England) and Kohli to assist him, Gayle is able to go all out unhindered and unperturbed and that has been the foundation of Bangalore’s success. The bowling department is spearheaded by Zaheer Khan who has been overshadowed by partner S Aravind offlate. Daniel Vettori has received some inspiring spells from Chris Gayle in the last couple of games that have sured up any voids that the attack ever possessed.
IPL - 4