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Crucial match for Mumbai

G. Viswanath

Jaipur: Shane Warne’s team is all geared up for a last fling at its backyard against an anxious opponent and take a final bow.

For a little over a month, the Sawai Mansingh Stadium has been a happy hunting ground for the men in Royal Blue. After being beaten hollow by Delhi Daredevils in the opening match at the Kotla, the Royals found its bearings surprisingly quickly and has flattened half a dozen opponents here with clinical efficiency.

Success plan

The old hand and shrewd mind in Warne not only dispensed his wiles and guiles to hoodwink the batsmen, but also developed a success plan founded and moulded a group of tyros and experienced into a winning unit.

Royals has virtually completed the first part of a hectic DLF-IPL journey with ten wins under its belt; it leads the table with 20 points to confirm its presence in the final stage of the league in Mumbai.

Strong performance

In spite of the happy position it is in, the Royals is in no mood to give up the exalted position before the knock-out. Kings XI Punjab is capable of finding its way up should it win its remaining two matches and the results go against Warne’s team.

Up till now the Royals’ team, comprising a handful of experienced overseas players and a group of excited and enthusiastic Indians, has turned out to be hard nuts to crack.

Warne’s team began its victory march here against a formidable team from Mohali and since has been beaten only once by the Mumbai Indians at a brand new stadium in the outskirts of Mumbai.

Success against the Chennai Super Kings on Sunday was proof that the Royals mean business. Without doubt, Warne would be keen that his team departs from Jaipur with a victory lap. After the win against Daredevils in the home match last week, Warne said the Sawai Mansingh Stadium is like a fortress and his team would go to any extent to defend it.

Watson likely to play

The likely absence of Greame Smith, who made a match winning 91 at Chennai, would make the Royals a little vulnerable. Warne has an option in Kamran Akmal to open with Swapnil Asnodkar.

Rested against Chennai, all-rounder Shane Watson with 352 runs and 12 wickets is sure to figure in the XI, though it’s not known whether Pankaj Singh will be given another chance.

Siddharth Trivedi, with 10 wickets at 27.90, could be recalled to bolster the bowling department.

Mumbai Indians’ six-match winning run was brought to a screeching halt by Kings XI Punjab in what turned out to be a nerve-wracking match at the Wankhede Stadium. Defeat against the Daredevils on Saturday was another setback to the Mumbai Indians; the costliest franchise team of the IPL.

The task is cut out for Sachin Tendulkar and his team. Victory against the Royals may not yet guarantee a place in the semifinal; it has to get the better of the Royal Challengers in the last match too.

The teams:

Rajasthan Royals (from): Shane Warne (captain), Swapnil Asnodkar, Mohammad Kaif, Yusuf Pathan, Shane Watson, Rajandra Jadeja, Siddharth Trivedi, Mahesh Rawat, Sohail Tanvir, Munaf Patel, Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal, Pankaj Singh, Taruwar Kohli, Dinesh Salunkhe, Graeme Smith.

Mumbai Indians (from): Sachin Tendulkar (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Dominic Thornely, Robin Uthappa, Abhishek Nayar, Shaun Pollock, Dilhara Fernando, Yogesh Takawale, Dhaval Kulkarni, Rohan Raje, Ashish Nehra, Andre Nel, Dwayne Smith, Rajesh Pawar, Saurabh Tiwary.

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