Indian Premier League - IPL / Andrew Hughes / 23 March 2010 /

With just two wins between them, Wednesday's IPL game in Chandigargh is already shaping up to be a wooden spoon decider. Andrew Hughes previews this battle of the basement between Punjab and Rajasthan.

Venue and Conditions

The PCA Cricket stadium had a reputation for producing bowler-friendly wickets but in recent years the pitch has become a lot flatter. In the first IPL, Chennai Super Kings piled up an astonishing 240 here and any first innings score much below 180 was likely to be vulnerable. In last week's game at the venue, the surface looked fairly true, but there was some encouragement for the quicker bowlers and although it is effectively an end of season pitch, it offered some helpful bounce. It should also be borne in mind that this is the furthest north of the IPL venues and temperatures are lot lower here, so swing bowlers might get some assistance. Overall, conditions should be fairly balanced between bat and ball.

Team News

Punjab experimented with Irfan Pathan as an opening partner for Ravi Bopara on Sunday and it appeared to work. Their other gamble was to drop Sreesanth and call up unknown South African medium pacer Juan Theron and that also paid off handsomely, though Sreesanth is likely to return on this quicker pitch. Their lengthy injury list means they have limited room for manoeuvre and the only change could be Karan Goel for the misfiring Manvinder Bisla.

The youngsters finally came good for Rajasthan against Kolkata and that eases some of Shane Warne's selection dilemmas. Like Punjab, injuries have severely restricted their options. They may want to bring back Damien Martyn for Michael Lumb, but the Englishman could stay in his role as makeshift opener if Warne wants to keep the middle order together.

Match Odds

It has been a good few days for both these teams, securing their maiden wins of the tournament despite horrendous injury problems and several key players being out of form. Rajasthan have an admirable leadership team in Shane Warne and Jeremy Snape and you can never write them off, whilst Punjab have showed great battling qualities and even in defeat, have not gone down without a fight.

However, this will be a game dictated by the conditions. Rajasthan looked more at home in Ahmedabad last time on a slow surface that enabled their young Indian batsmen to settle in. But memories of the battering they took against Bangalore will still be fresh and Punjab will want to exploit that. The extra bounce and swing will suit Pathan, Sreesanth and Theron and now that the big guns in the Punjab middle order are starting to fire, they look a good bet to win the game at [1.75]

Top Batsman

The big news as far as the top batsman market goes is that Yuvraj Singh has got his touch back. He's the kind of batsman who tends to cash in when hitting a rich vein of form and he rates a sound selection at [5.0] or higher to top score for Punjab on a pitch where ball will come nicely onto bat.

For Rajasthan, Yusuf Pathan will almost always head the market, but teams appear to have got wise to his one dimensional batting style and the Punjab bowlers are likely to adjust their lengths to cramp his style. Abhishek Jhunjhunwala is Rajasthan's top scorer so far and the stats don't lie about this slightly built but immensely impressive youngster. He is likely to be as high as [6.5] and should be backed accordingly.

Featured Market

These two teams are the IPL run out kings. Kings XI Punjab suffered more run outs than any other team in last year's IPL and Rajasthan Royals have already clocked up eight such dismissals in just four games this time round. Back 'Over 1.5' in the Total Match Run Outs market at [1.96] or higher.

Trivia

Built on swampland, the PCA Stadium is one of the most modern grounds in India, though its floodlights are lower than at other grounds due to the proximity of a local airport, which can sometimes make it difficult for fielders to pick up the ball when going for high catches.

Andrew Hughes says: Back 'Over 1.5' in the Total Match Run Outs market at [1.96]

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