Cricinfo’s preview of Rajasthan Royals v Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran27-Mar-2010Match factsSunday, March 28
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Shane Warne’s team has surged up the points table with three consecutive wins•Indian Premier LeagueBig pictureA week is a long time in the IPL. Last Friday, Rajasthan Royals were rooted to the bottom of the table with three defeats in a row, while Chennai Super Kings were sharing top spot with two victories. Now, it is Rajasthan, who can eye a slice of the top spot while Chennai are trying to stay above the basement.Chennai’s descent started with the loss against Kings XI Punjab, a game they were in control of for at least 75% of the match, before going into meltdown. One thing they could take solace from is that their next two losses were to the in-form teams of the competition – Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians.Rajasthan, meanwhile, began their revival with wins over two of the tournament’s stragglers – Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders – before hitting top form against Deccan Chargers on Friday. Yusuf Pathan remains crucial but each of their foreign players are beginning to pull their weight – Michael Lumb with two solid efforts at the top of the order, Adam Voges with his energetic batting and fielding, Shaun Tait with the fearsome pace he was recruited for and Shane Warne, who unleashed a classical legbreak to fool Herschelle Gibbs. They no longer look like an outfit waiting to be rescued by the all-round talent of Shane Watson, who is still busy with the Test series in New Zealand.Team talkChennai have to ponder whom to pick as their fourth overseas player (Morkel, Murali and Hayden are certainties). Thissara Perera, an attacking batting allrounder, had a debut to forget against Mumbai Indians – not getting to bat, and being smashed for 19 runs in his only over. With the Indian seamers not doing too well, the out-of-favour Makhaya Ntini could get a game, though that might make the Chennai tail too long for Dhoni’s liking.After their most convincing win of the campaign, Rajasthan will be tempted to keep the same XI. Siddharth Trivedi had a poor match on Friday, but did well enough before that game to retain his place. Naman Ojha’s spot could come under scrutiny after six innings in which he has yet to top 27.Form guide (most recent first)Rajasthan: WWWLL
Chennai: LLLWWPreviously…Rajasthan 3 Chennai 2Rajasthan won all matches between the two teams in the first season, including the final, but Chennai beat them easily in both games in South Africa – first by 38 runs and then by seven wickets.In the spotlightShaun Tait’s form has reflected that of Rajasthan’s: an erratic beginning followed by consistent improvements. He has hit the express pace that makes batsman jittery, and if he continues to serve up deliveries like the yorker that cleaned up T Suman on Friday, Chennai’s batsmen will be wise to order some toe-protectors.Yusuf v Murali: Both are in fantastic form; Yusuf loves taking on the spinners, Murali has been miserly and scooping up plenty of wickets. Who wins this battle could prove significant in the final outcome.Prime numbers Yusuf Pathan and Robin Uthappa are the only batsman in the tournament (min 50 runs) to have hit more sixes than fours Suresh Raina has taken the most catches in the competition – six.The chatter”As a group we’ve trained hard planned well and are starting to see the rewards,we have belief and confidence.. Biggest game for us so far is tomorrow.”