Mr Cricket: Rajasthan (Jaipur) v Deccan (Hyderabad)

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IPL - Rajasthan (Jaipur) v Deccan (Hyderabad)

At the start of the tournament, who would have thought this would have been much of a contest? A strong-as-teak looking Hyderabad side was expected to storm the IPL castle while Shane Warne's Jaipur were written off by just about everybody. How the wheel has turned - underperforming Hyderabad are equal last on the ladder while Jaipur are on top despite hitting a speed bump against Mumbai the other night. We tipped Jaipur in that game but we did note with interest the betting fluctuations (Jaipur blew like a rusty gate) and we thought Graeme Smith's dismissal was interesting to say the least. It really is a time to be wary about putting too much cash into these games - with most of the current international players gone, sometimes things may not be quite what they seem. Not that we are saying anything funny is going on - it's just a time to be cautious. Jaipur turned in by far their worst performance of the tournament last start however they have not lost a game at home, where they are playing tonight.

Hyderabad are doing a fair job of hauling themselves off the bottom of the ladder and are starting to find some semblance of form with two wins from their last four games. In team news VVS Laxman may be out again for Hyderabad with a hand injury but that is no big blow given he is unsuited to 20-over cricket anyway. The fascinating battle within the battle here is Adam Gilchrist (Hyderabad) up against Shane Warne (Jaipur). These two were never bosom buddies and both would love to get the better of each other here. In the last meeting between these teams, Warne's captaincy prevailed when he used offspiner Yusuf Pathan to spin the ball away from Gilchrist and the ploy worked terrifically. Make no mistake - Gilchrist will be desperate to mark his mark here. There is so much batting firepower in this match it is impossible to know where to turn and this should be a ripper of a match. The Jaipur batting order including Graeme Smith, Yusuf Pathan, Shane Watson and the impressive Ravindra Jadeja up against the Hyderabad lineup of Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs, Scott Styris, Rohot Sharma and Shahid Afridi. How can you safely pick a winner here? These teams both have blast-off batting lineups and it will depend on who fires on the day. We do think Jaipur have the better bowling attack, including Warne and impressive paceman Sohail Tanvir, but we have just about given up assessing bowling attacks because it's the batting that really matters.

There is only one thing that Mr Cricket knows about this match for sure - Gilchrist will be deadly focused on a big score because of the Warne factor. Gilly only retired from international cricket last summer so there's little doubt he still has what it takes. And when he really sets to mind to something there is no stopping the most destructive batsman in world cricket. We are tipping Gilly to have one of his ‘on’ days here. On that basis, he is worth a small flutter in several markets. A 0.5 unit bet (at $1.90) on Gilly to score more runs than Graeme Smith at Lasseters, a 0.5 unit bet on Gilly (at $1.85) to score more runs than Yusuf Pathan (Lasseters) and finally a 0.5 unit bet on Gilly to be Hyderabad's topscorer at $3.75 with Paddypower. We know we are putting all our eggs in one basket here but if there is a batsman more suited to 20-over cricket, then we haven't seen him. And don't tell me he won't be as keen as mustard to get one over Warney.