IPL - Chennai v Deccan (Hyderabad)

Of all the IPL teams who have hit some hurdles after their top Australian and other international players left, Chennai seem to have been the hardest hit. Since Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey and Jacob Oram left, Chennai have lost successive games and suffered a freefall from the top of the ladder. The team that was unbeaten a few days ago, and sitting on top of the ladder, has very much come back to the pack.

Their rivals here, Hyderabad, have been the massive disappointments of the IPL with just one win from six games. Hyderabad are going so badly that in their last game they even lost to Bangalore, the side that has been made mincemeat of by just about every other side. It's quite inexplicable how Hyderabad are going so badly because even without Andrew Symonds they appear to have a gun side on paper. Adam Gilchrist, VVS Laxman, Shahid Afridi, Herschelle Gibbs and Rohit Sharma are all top quality players but just can't seem to click together. The problem is that outside of the hugely talented young Indian Sharma (235 IPL runs at 58, strike rate 153) there has not been enough support from the other big guns. Gilchrist (169 runs at 33) and Laxman (155 runs at 31) have chipped in occasionally but have been far from the matchwinners they were expected to be. Afridi (26 runs at 6.5) and Gibbs (12 runs at 6) arrived late but might as well have stayed at home because their batting form has been dreadful. Hyderabad's batting has been so wonky that Kiwi Scott Styris, who we have it on good authority has let his hair down with several late nights in India, is in line for a call-up for this clash.

On the Chennai side of the equation, former Kiwi captain Stephen Fleming has failed twice since arriving in the IPL. Fleming is the only specialist foreign batsman in the Chennai side so needs to fire quickly. Chennai also really needs its skipper MS Dhoni to step up because he has had a decent tournament (173 runs at 34) without justifying his astronomical $1.65 million IPL pricetag. Without Hayden and Hussey, the batting responsibility really does fall back on Fleming and Dhoni because Chennai look pretty light on in the batting department.

All in all these are two sides who are both struggling terribly with the bat, so it's hard to split them there even though Hyderabad look stronger on paper. However they have looked stronger on paper all tournament so that is hardly a factor to help us decide here. With both batting lineups down on form and confidence, perhaps the bowling matchups will decide this encounter? There is little doubt that Chennai has by far the stronger bowlers. South African quick Makhaya Ntini and the lumbering Manpreet Gony provide decent pace while Muttiah Muralidaran is the spinning ace in the pack. Chennai have a good, balanced bowling attack and we think Muralidaran (who has so far had a quiet tournament) is on the brink of really firing. He would love nothing more than to spin out Gilchrist and Laxman. Hyderabad's bowling attack looks paper thin, outside of Indian swingman RP Singh and possibly Scott Styris (if he gets a game). They look very vulnerable to a batting blitz and Fleming and Dhoni could have a field day here with support from some lesser lights. Hyderabad also do not have a world-class spinner, vital in this format, while Chennai have Murali.

We almost always think that batting strength decides these games, but with both batting lineups struggling it is the bowling atacks that could prove the difference. Hyderabad have shown us nothing to make us want to back them while there are a few things working in Chennai's favour this match. We are only suggesting a small bet on Chennai but at $2.15 with Lasseters they are worth a 0.5 unit bet.

FLEMING FLUTTER
Chennai knows it probably needs Stephen Fleming or MS Dhoni to fire with the bat here to be a real winning chance. Fleming, the former Kiwi captain, hasn't fired so far in the IPL but is custom made for this 20-over format with his left-handed aggression and vast experience. He will also open the innings, getting more of a chance to score big, than Dhoni in the middle order. He is worth a 0.25 unit flutter to be Chennai's top runscorer, at $5 with paddypower. The $5 quote is good odds considering Fleming will have every chance at the top of the order and Dhoni is the only other obvious threat in the Chennai high-bat market.

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