Preview - Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Daredevils

Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Daredevils Match facts Friday, May 2, 2008 Start time 20.00 (local), 14.30 (GMT) The Big Picture The Chennai Super Kings are the only unbeaten team in the Indian Premier League but, with the departure of Mathew Hayden, Michael Hussey - their top two runscorers - and Jacob Oram, the real work has just begun if they are to stay at the top. Their first match after the exodus is against third-placed Delhi Daredevils, who haven't been hit as hard: they've lost only Daniel Vettori, who played two of the four matches. Chennai now have a huge hole in their top-order and they will be tested by the IPL's best new-ball attack - Glenn McGrath and Mohammad Asif. A win at home against a strong opponent could provide Chennai with the confidence needed to maintain a strong campaign throughout the tournament. Delhi, whose batting has been almost as smooth as their bowling, will have other plans, though, and the fight for the semi-final spots could become more open than it currently is. Watch out for ... ... Stephen Fleming, who is almost certain to make his IPL debut following the departure of Hayden and Hussey. He's played 36 Twenty20 matches and will need to use all his experience to counter Delhi's attack. The battle between Muttiah Muralitharan and Delhi's openers, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, could prove crucial if they get going against Chennai's new-ball attack. Sehwag hasn't had much success against Murali, falling to him four times in 38 balls since 2002 but Gambhir, on the other hand, has played Murali effectively, scoring 42 runs off 39 balls against him during the recent CB Series in Australia. Watch out too, for AB de Villiers, who may finally get a game: Dinesh Karthik has scored only 26 in two innings and de Villiers could slot in as a wicketkeeper-batsman. Team news Most teams in the competition have a problem of plenty when choosing their overseas stars for the playing XI. Chennai have no such problems because they are left with only four foreign players: Murali, Albie Morkel, Fleming and Makhaya Ntini, the latter two yet to play in the competition. There is also a doubt over their leading fast bowler Manpreet Gony, who has a fever. Chennai: 1 Parthiv Patel, 2 Stephen Fleming, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wk), 5 S Badrinath, 6 Albie Morkel, 7, S Vidyut, 8 Joginder Sharma, 9 Muttiah Muralitharan, 10 Manpreet Gony, 11 Makhaya Ntini. Delhi are unlikely to make too many changes, though Vettori's absence makes Maharoof a strong contender for a comeback, having taken four wickets in three games with an economy of seven an over. However, Delhi have been relying on their top order to do most of the scoring so the inclusion of de Villiers could strengthen the middle. Delhi: 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag (capt), 3 Shikhar Dhawan, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Manoj Tiwary, 7 Rajat Bhatia, 8 Farveez Maharoof, 9 Mohammad Asif, 10 Yo Mahesh, 11 Glenn McGrath. IPL form Chennai Super Kings: WWWW Delhi Daredevils: WWLW Stats and trivia Gambhir has scored 174 runs in four innings at a strike-rate of 144. He is 16 runs away from over-taking Hayden as the tournament's top-scorer and claiming the orange cap. Chennai Super Kings' Joginder Sharma and Suresh Raina have taken four catches each, the most the tournament so far. Quotes "Makhaya [Ntini] brings in a lot of experience and will of course open with the new ball. Albie is fine allrounder and then we have Stephen Fleming batting at the top of the order. So, I feel that our team has the kind of balance that it did not have in the previous four games." Kepler Wessels, coach of the Chennai Super Kings.

Preview - Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab

Punjab look to continue winning run Match facts Thursday May 1, 2008 Start time 20.00 (local), 14.30 (GMT) The Big Picture Two teams which started their IPL campaign poorly have suddenly found winning ways over the last week, and Thursday's clash is another opportunity for both Deccan Chargers and Kings XI Punjab to sustain the momentum. Adam's Gilchrist's incredible century against Mumbai Indians on Sunday ensured that Deccan notched up the most convincing win of the tournament, while Punjab have won once each batting first and chasing, suggesting they are pretty comfortable doing either. Two of the architects of their wins - Simon Katich and Brett Lee - won't be around, though, as both have country duties coming up, and how Punjab cope with the absence of those two stars could well determine how this match pans out. Watch out for ... ... Herschelle Gibbs. He should be an excellent replacement for Andrew Symonds, who returns home to prepare for the West Indies tour after a mixed tournament. With Lee missing from the opposition attack, Gibbs should get plenty of opportunity to tee off. Team news Gibbs for Symonds is the most likely replacement, unless Deccan opt for the extra bowling option that Scott Styris will provide. Considering the fact that Symonds didn't bowl in the previous game, Deccan will probably go in with Gibbs for his clean ball-striking ability and his fielding prowess at point. VVS Laxman's handy contribution against Mumbai should ensure he stays at the top of the order, with Gibbs coming in at No.3. Deccan Chargers (probable) 1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 VVS Laxman (capt), 3 Herschelle Gibbs, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 Shahid Afridi, 6 Sanjay Bangar, 7 Arjun Yadav, 8 Nuwan Zoysa, 9 Pragyan Ojha, 10 RP Singh, 11 D Kalyankrishna. Punjab might be hit more badly by the players who are leaving them. They have no ready replacement for Lee, while Katich's steady hand at the top of the order will be missed as well. The possible replacements could be Ramnaresh Sarwan and James Hopes, which will make the batting line-up largely an overseas one. If Punjab do opt for that tactic, it'll open up one bowling slot for a local player, and Ajitesh Argal, one of the heroes of India's Under-19 World Cup triumph, could get his first chance on the big stage. Punjab (probable) 1 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 2 James Hopes, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Yuvraj Singh (capt), 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Tanmay Srivastava, 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 Ajitesh Argal, 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Sreesanth, 11 VRV Singh PL form Deccan Chargers: LLLW Kings XI Punjab: LLWW Stats and trivia Deccan have lost both their home games, while Punjab haven't yet won an away game. One of those stats will change for sure on Thursday. The Sri Lankan stars for Punjab have had contrasting fortunes so far: Kumar Sangakkara has scored 172 from four games, but Mahela Jayawardene has only managed 29 from three. Shahid Afridi has lasted just 11 balls in two innings, but he has had more success with the ball, taking five wickets at an average of 15.40 and an economy rate of 7.70 per over. Quotes "We are keen to win the match in front of home crowd and are not worried about our rivals." VVS Laxman hopes to carry Hyderabad's momentum forward.

Preview - Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders

Confident Rajasthan ready for Kolkata Match facts Thursday, May 1, 2008 Start time 16.00 (local), 10.30 (GMT) The Big Picture The Rajasthan Royals, after an inauspicious start, are seeking their fourth successive win. Astutely led by Shane Warne, they have moved up to the third slot in the team standings, and their frugality at the auction (they spent the least), are slowly bearing fruit. In the first of two back-to-back home games, they have to contend with the Kolkata Knight Riders who, after a rollicking start, have lost two in a row. The departure of Brendon McCullum and Ricky Ponting for their respective international commitments, coupled with Chris Gayle's unavailability for the rest of the season due to injury, will make it that much harder for Kolkata to bounce back. And there is one contest on the sidelines: The battle of the coaches. Warne and John Buchanan had no love lost for each other in their Australia days; how will they interact now? Watch out for ... ... some stand-out performances from Jaipur. Shane Watson has earned two Man-of-the-Match awards in four games, and needs to score 28 more runs to earn the right to wear the orange cap bestowed on the highest cumulative run-scorer. Graeme Smith has scores of 71 and 49 in his two innings while Yusuf Pathan, who blasted the quickest fifty of the tournament, may set the stadium alight. Meanwhile, Kolkata's batting has fizzled out after McCullum's 158 in the IPL opener and it's not surprising that none of their batsmen have recorded a half-century since. Their icon, Sourav Ganguly, has only managed 40 runs in four innings while David Hussey, after his stabilising influence in Kolkata's first home win, has made just 67 overall. But they can take heart from the fact that Brad Hodge, who was a late signing, has the game to spark a change in fortunes. Team news Dimitri Mascarenhas, the England allrounder who has earned a reputation for big-hitting (he struck Yuvraj Singh for five successive sixes in an ODI), is available for five games for Rajasthan. He is likely to replace Sohail Tanvir, the Pakistan left-arm seamer. Besides the one change, the rest of the line-up looks settled, with Mahesh Rawat set to continue with wicketkeeping duties in the place of Kamran Akmal . Rajasthan (probable) 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Mahesh Rawat (wk), 3 Yusuf Pathan, 4 Shane Watson, 5 Mohammad Kaif, 6 Dimitri Mascarenhas, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Dinesh Salunkhe, 9 Shane Warne (capt), 10 Siddharth Trivedi, 11 Munaf Patel. The departure of Ponting and McCullum means that Kolkata may hand out IPL debuts to Salman Butt and Hodge. Hodge has an impressive domestic Twenty20 record - 1649 runs in 44 innings at 42.28 with a strike-rate of 139.20. The young Debabrata Das showed glimpses of potential during his 29 against Mumbai, and should get another opportunity. Kolkata 1 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 2 Salman Butt, 3 Brad Hodge, 4 David Hussey, 5 Mohammad Hafeez, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Laxmi Ratan Shukla, 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Murali Kartik, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Ashok Dinda. IPL form Rajasthan Royals: LWWW Kolkata Knight Riders: WWLL Stats and trivia Smith, with 364 runs at 36.40 from 12 matches, is the highest run-getter, and the batsman who has hit the most number of fours in Twenty20 internationals Ajit Agarkar, with 11.10 balls per wicket, has the best strike-rate among all bowlers in the IPL Quotes "There's never a low for me. I can never feel low. There are times when my son (Aryan) runs a race but doesn't come first. I've myself lost races. I've made flops but that doesn't take anything away from life. It's not that I like losing, though... I don't and my team doesn't like losing either." Shah Rukh Khan, Kolkata's team-owner and Bollywood superstar, takes losing in his stride while talking to the Telegraph