Deccan Chargers out to spoil Rajasthan Royals party

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The equation is simple for the Rajasthan Royals. With 14 points in the kitty and two matches left to play, they need to win both the games to have a sliver of a chance of making it to the semifinals.

Though mathematics still holds all the aces, their opponents in Friday’s match, the Deccan Chargers, might just prove to be a stumbling block.

The Bulls haven’t had the best of seasons, having lost all but three of their matches so far, but that isn’t because of non-performance but just a combination of different cogs in the machine failing to turn smoothly on that day. If the bowling does well, the batting would let them down and vice versa.

But with their last two games of the season, set to be played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium here, the Chargers will look to dent the Royals’ chances of making the playoffs, going by what coach Darren Lehmann said.

“All we can do right now is to spoil the chances of other teams of making the playoffs and we would look to do a good job of it,” Lehmann said on the eve of the match.

Shikhar Dhawan and Cameron White have been in sparkling form and the Chargers would rest easy knowing these two would take them to a formidable score.

The worry creeps in when they take the field. The bowling, has been inconsistent with flashes of brilliance while their fielders could have done better on quite a few occasions.

Royals skipper Rahul Dravid has led the side in a level-headed manner and has, for all intents and purposes, ensured that his players do come under too much pressure going into final two crucial encounters.