Indian Premier League - IPL / Ed Hawkins / 27 March 2010 /

Two sides with vastly differing recent fortunes clash in Ahmedabad on Sunday. Will the respective trends continue or can Chennai halt an alarming slide? Ed Hawkins previews this one

Venue and conditions
The Sadam Partel stadium surface in Ahmedabad does not look to be full of runs. Sides have struggled to post big scores first up this year with totals of 148, 168 and 141.

Team news
Rajasthan have chalked up a hat-trick of victories just when they seemed preoccupied with counting their injuries. Despite the loss of key men like Graeme Smith and Dimitri Mascarenhas they have been galvanised. Hampshire's Michael Lumb and Yusuf Pathan have been to the fore.

Chennai have suffered a hat-trick of defeats. MS Dhoni is fit again but even his canny captaincy can't hide the fact that his bowlers are struggling.

Match odds
This contest has been chalked up far closer than anyone would have imagined a week ago. Rajasthan are marginal outsiders at [2.26] with Chennai [1.78]. On form it should be the other way round (third hosts third from bottom) but it is tough to totally trust Rajasthan.

Despite Shane Warne working some magic - we particularly like the use of Shaun Tait in the middle of an innings - are Rajasthan good enough to win four straight, or Chennai bad enough to lose four straight for that matter? Probaby not.

Question marks remain about their batting and they are heavily reliant on Pathan smiting some mighty strikes. Chennai's p[problem has been their bowling. They could not defend 180 against Mumbai but Rajasthan's batting is far less fearsome.

Top batsman
Pathan has top scored three times for the Royals. At [4.00] he shares favourite status with Lumb, who has yet to take honours. Adam Voges, the Aussie who heavily favours the on side, is [5.00]. Two-time top-bat Abhishek JhunJhunwala is {5.00] under the auspices of Any Other Batsman.

Matt Hayden is once again favourite for Chennai. The left-hander has twice top scored in IPL3. He is a ridiculously short [2.60]. Dhoni, with two top-bat efforts to his name, although one shared, is [4.50]. When these sides met last year, Suresh Raina hit a brilliant 98 and following his impressive knock against Mumbai Indians, it is easy to see why he is [4.00].

Featured market
Chennai will probably go off [1.75] favourites for most sixes, which is fair enough. They have hit 36 to Rajasthan's 28. Not a huge gap but consider that 19 of Rajasthan's have come from Pathan's willow and you have a mismatch.

Trivia
Favourites are far from dominating the match market. They have been beaten 11 times so far in IPL3 (not including Saturday's match).

Ed Hawkins says: back Chennai at [1.78]

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