Rajasthan Royals innings
8th over: Rajasthan 74 for 1 Ashok Menaria is the new batsman. He has the reputation of a big-hitter. A quiet over by all means as just four runs come off Daniel Christian.
7th over: Rajasthan 70 for 1 Rajan on again. What a start by the hosts. Dravid played a blinder of an innings. RR have got the start they wanted. Their best bet Rahane is still there. Match on. A four off the last ball. Rahane hits it straight back over the bowler's head.
6th over: Rajasthan 62 for 1 Dravid is in his zone. Hits Christian for a big six over covers. Makes room for himself and executes it to perfection. It's hard to believe that he has taken retirement. There is so much cricket left in him. Another big shot, a four this time. The ball travels through the covers like a bazooka. Dravid out off the fifth ball! Unfortunate dismissal. The yorker ricochets off his shoe to hit the wickets.
Dravid b Christian 42 (24)
5th over: Rajasthan 50 for 0 Anand Rajan drops Rahane off his own bowling. But a tough chance, it has to be said. Meanwhile, Dravid unleashes another four, past the mid-off fieldsman. Another four, a thick edge off the Dravid's bat, the ball goes past wicketkeeper Sangakkara like a tracer bullet. The 50-run partnership comes up between Dravid and Rahane, and the former has been the chief destroyer so far.
4th over: Rajasthan 39 for 0 Daniel Christian is being taken to the cleaners. Three fours in the over. One by Dravid, two by Rahane.
3rd over: Rajasthan 25 for 0 Now Rahane gets into the act. Greets Ankit with a four in the direction of long-on. Rahane starts from where he had left off.
2nd over: Rajasthan 17 for 0 Dravid takes Dale Steyn by the scruff of his collar. Takes three fours off the South African bowler. A great contest.
1st over: Rajasthan 5 for 0 Spinner Ankit Sharma opens the bowling for Deccan. Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Dravid play him cautiously. Rahane scored a superb ton in the last match and he is, without a doubt, a key here.
Deccan Chargers innings
20th over: Deccan 196 for 2 Duminy hits another four, past the gully fieldsman. Here comes a six. Fifty for Duminy. Straight over the bowler's head. He follows it up with another. This time over mid-wicket. Amit Singh having a bad day at the office. What an innings by JP Duminy, 58 not out off 26 balls. Christian played a perfect foil to him with 29 not out off 19 balls. It's a big total and going to test Rajasthan's batsmen not a little. They scored almost a similar score against RCB, but that time they batted first. Here it will be another thing.
19th over: Deccan 178 for 2 Daniel Christian takes a four off Pankaj Singh's first ball. Makes room to hit past the point fieldsman. It went like a rocket. Hang on. JP Duminy goes one better. A huge six over long-on. Dances down the track and sends the ball into the stands. What strike. Here is another six. Duminy is taking Pankaj to the cleaners. The direction is a bit straighter this time. Duminy is showing why is touted as one of the most dangerous batsmen in the world. The over concludes with a single. 19 from the over.
18th over: Deccan 160 for 2 Amit Singh returns and Christian greets him with a four off the first ball. Another four off the fifth ball preceded by two doubles. The last ball also is dispatched for a four. A great over for DC. Amit is looking dejected. Who won't after giving 17 runs?
17th over: Deccan 143 for 2 Another six. This time it's Christian. Hits straight over the bower's head. Super shot. 11 runs off the Brad Hogg over.
16th over: Deccan 132 for 2 The stage is set for an onslaught. The first ball yields three byes as wicketkeeper Yagnik does a bad job behind the wicket. Bowler Trivedi expresses his disappointment. By the way, the pitch has slowed down to a great extent in the last few overs, making it difficult for batsmen to go for big shots. Hang on. Here is the second six of the innings. Duminy hits a ripper over mid-wicket. Utter disdain for the bowler.
15th over: Deccan 119 for 2 JP Duminy is the new batsman. He is a big-hitting player and on his day can be unstoppable. Botha is operating and does well against his compatriot. Meanwhile, Owais Shah fields superbly on the straight boundary to deny Christian a boundary.
14th over: Deccan 110 for 2 Dhawan out. Tries to slog-sweep Trivedi over square-leg but finds Hodge who takes a running catch on the boundary. A top-class innings comes to an end.
Dhawan c Hodge b Trivedi 52 (43)
13th over: Deccan 108 for 1 Daniel Christian is the new batsman who finds it hard to deal with Botha's offspinners. Just three runs off the over.
12th over: Deccan 105 for 1 Brad Hogg concedes nine runs in the over. Despite the wicket, the runs are coming freely for DC.
11th over: Deccan 96 for 1 RR strike through Brad Hodge. Sangakkara departs. Hits Hodge for a four and a six before getting out. Tries to go for a big shot but finds a leading edge. Wicketkeeper Yagnik takes an easy skier.
Sangakkara c †Yagnik b Hodge 44 (32)
10th over: Deccan 83 for 0 This is the highest opening stand by any team this season. Hogg bowls another tidy over. DC can't afford to slacken here. They have to put a big score on the board to test a powerful Rajasthani batting line-up. You remember what Ajinkya Rahane did against RCB.
9th over: Deccan 77 for 0 Trivedi bowls his second over and Dhawan smashes another four past the point fieldsman. The rest of the over is relatively quiet with singles.
8th over: Deccan 70 for 0 Now Australia veteran Brad Hogg takes the ball. Will he able to change the trend? That's the question. He has bowled the best over so far. A couple of lbw shouts against Dhawan, who has found it hard to pick the bowler. But the left-hander makes up for it all with a four off the last ball. Still, a good over going by what we have witnessed so far on this lifeless deck.
7th over: Deccan 63 for 0 Siddarth Trivedi comes into the attack but it seems he won't be of much use on this pitch. Dhawan hits him for a boundary on the leg side off the second ball. One more thing, the outfield is very fast. It's really travelling out there. By the by, this is Deccan's highest opening partnership this season.
6th over: Deccan 57 for 0 Botha back on but Sangakkara is as disdainful as ever. He notches up a four off the fourth delivery. The rest of the over is relatively quiet. Can't help and I will say it again that the pitch is full of runs. No assistance for the bowlers so far.
5th over: Deccan 49 for 0 Pankaj Singh returns. But fails to impress as Sanga takes a four off the fifth ball. The pitch is as flat as a pancake. A high-scoring game is on the cards, there are no doubts about that.
4th over: Deccan 39 for 0 Amit Singh again. First ball yields five runs on account of a bye. Dhawan hits another four, off the third ball. Great going. Another good over for DC. For the first time in this tournament they are batting with purpose. Both batsmen are determined to put the disappointment of the last matches behind.
3rd over: Deccan 26 for 0 Early signs show it's a batting paradise. Shikhar takes a four off Botha's first ball, well hit past point. Another four off the fifth ball. Dhawan looks in imperious touch. Again past the point fieldsman.
2nd over: Deccan 16 for 0 Now it's Amit Singh's turn to bowl. He also had a great game against RCB. Sangakkara hits a delightful four off the last ball. The rest of the over is quite quiet.
1st over: Deccan 9 for 0 Pankaj Singh opens the proceedings for Rajasthan. He was one of their top performers in their last match against RCB. However, it has been a bad start for him here as Kumar Sangakkara hits him for a four towards the fine-leg boundary. More action in this over, a huge run-out appeal against Shikhar Dhawan. Replays show he is in. Another four, this time off the bat of Shikhar Dhawan. The over concludes. Good start for DC.
3:30 p.m. Deccan win toss. Sangakkara says, "We'll bat first."
The much anticipated change has arrived for DC. JP Duminy is in, replacing the Australian Cameron White. Also playing this game for Decccan are Tanmay Mishra and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, who have been drafted into the XI at the expense of Parthiv Patel and Ravi Teja.
The interesting bit about Tanmay is that he is playing as an Indian player (as he holds an Indian passport) despite having represented Kenya internationally.
There is an injury-forced change for hosts Rajasthan. Shreevats Goswami got injured minutes before the toss, making way for Dishant Yagnik.
Playing XIs:
Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Dravid (capt), Owais Shah, Brad Hodge, Ashok Menaria, Dishant Yagnik (wk), Johan Botha, Bradd Hogg, Amit Singh, Siddharth Trivedi, Pankaj Singh.
Deccan Chargers: Bharat Chipli, Shikhar Dhawan, Tanmay Mishra, Daniel Christian, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), JP Duminy, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Ankit Sharma, Amit Mishra, Dale Steyn, Anand Rajan
3:15 p.m. Aloha! We are in the territory of the Royals, Rajasthan Royals to be precise, and they are hosting the men from Hyderabad, the Deccan Chargers. This is Match 20 of IPL 5.
Rajasthan are turning out to be the tournament's surprise package, making heads turn just like in the league's inaugural season, which they won under Shane Warne. This time Rahul Dravid is at the helm with three wins in the five games they have played so far, which perches them just behind the table-toppers Delhi Daredevils on the leaderboard.
Deccan have so far been a no-show, losing both the matches they have played so far. The distinct advantage could be that they are the only team to have played just two matches, with every other team having played four games at least. So don't count them out just yet. The toss is coming up next, until then read the game's
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