A struggling Rajasthan Royals will look to resuscitate its title defence while a rampaging Delhi Daredevils will strive to continue its unbeaten run when the two sides lock horns in the Indian Premier League .We are a little over a week into the 2009 IPL, but Rajasthan Royals are heading towards the last-chance saloon.
Shane Warne’s side defied the odds to seal a thrilling victory in the 2008 IPL, but the defence of their crown has not gone as planned and they face the unbeaten Delhi Daredevils at Centurion on Tuesday aware that defeat will leave them in real trouble.
The Royals have three points to their name, with their only success coming courtesy of a Super Over contest with Kolkata Knight Riders.
Rajasthan have not looked too far off the pace with the ball, Kamran Khan has bowled with real venom, Dimitri Mascarenhas with guile and Warne is again defying old Father Time, but they have come up well short with the bat. The Delhi Daredevils, who have won all three of their games thus far, have a solid batting line-up led by captain Virender Sehwag , India's Gautam Gambhir and backed up by the in-form duo of South Africa's AB de Villiers and Sri Lankan Tillakaratne Dilshan .
If one has failed in the tournament thus far, then another has managed to get a big score. De Villiers did so with an unbeaten century against the Chennai Super Kings on Friday, followed by Dilshan's 67 not out against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday.
Throw in Daniel Vettori's accuracy and guile with the ball -- he has six wickets from the three games -- and the Rajasthan Royals will have a tough job

Deccan Chargers won their third straight match in the IPL 2nd season.Mumbai Indians lost their match inspite of some good batting by Sachin Tendulkar who has now crossed his 36th birthday. Batting first, Deccan Chargers had a good batting partnership in Gilchrist and Gibbs. Gibbs scored his first half century of this season. Deccan scored 169 in 20 overs.

Mumbai Indians started poorly with Jayasuriya getting out with the score on 4 and then Sachin Tendulkar got in with Duminy and scored well.But then after a mini collapse and they fell apart for 156/7.

Deccan Chargers: 168/9 in 20 overs.

Mumbai Indians:156/7 in 20 overs.

MOM: Pragyan Ojha.

Chennai SuperKings throw away the advantage to go down against Delhi Daredevils. Delhi Daredevils batting first were in for a shock as both Sehwag and Gambhir got out early. Dilshan and Devilliers then played a care free cricket scoring 10 per over. Dilshan was dismissed scoring a fifty but Devilliers played one of the best IPL innings this year. He scored a sensational century to get his team past 150. With help of other small innings from Karthik and Tiwary Delhi managed 189/5 in 20 overs. Balaji took 19/3 in 4 overs.

Matthew Hayden and Parthiv Patel scored heavily with Hayden punishing every bowler. They scored a quick fire half century after which Parthiv was sent to the pavilion. Raina too played well for his 41 but got out at an important stage. Hayden scored 51 when Sangwan sent him back.

The momentum fizzled out and Flintoff continued his forgettable IPL once again not adding to the team cause. Morkel didn't fulfill his promise of a big hitter and was left stranded at the non-striker's end watching the procession of his colleagues at the other end. Chennai managed only 180/9 falling short by 9 runs. Now, Delhi has won both their matches to raise to the top of the points table while Chenai has won only one from there three matches.

Match 9:

Delhi Daredevils: 189/5 in 20 overs.

Chennai SuperKings:180/9 in 20 overs.

MOM: AB Devilliers.

It’s another of those high profile contests featuring teams owned by Bollywood superstars. After Chris Gayle did the trick for the Shah Rukh Khan-owned Kolkata Knight Riders in the rain-truncated match against Kings XI on Tuesday, KKR are gearing up to upset the calculations of defending champions Rajasthan Royals (RR) co-owned by Shilpa Shetty. Defending champion Rajasthan Royals will look for a quick turnaround in its fortunes when it meets a rejuvenated Kolkata Knight Riders in an Indian Premier League.

Kolkata haven't done anything special yet, barring Chris Gayle's explosive cameo. They overcame their dismal opener with a Duckworth-Lewis win over Kings XI Punjab and plenty rests on Gayle and Brendon McCullum at the top .

Without big stars in its ranks, Royals has a tough task on hand after the thrashing in the campaign opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore and a wash-out in the second game against Mumbai Indians.Warne, Mascarenhas, Smith and Tyron Henderson should continue to be the four foreign players. Niraj Patel is the man most likely to be under pressure.Warne would also come face to face with old foe Ganguly .

It's time for RR to make a fresh start. After all, the IPL is all about forgetting defeats and making new beginnings

The team which had a forgettable first season of the IPL is making all the right moves. It was highly charged performance by the Deccan Chargers against Bangalore Royal Challengers. Bangalore lost its second game in succession, the magic of Rahul Dravid not withstanding. Winning the toss, Gilchrist, captain of the Chargers chose to bat first. He said during the toss that whatever they do first, should execute it well and that he did with aplomb. Gilly himself blasted the Bangalore bowling to all corners of the stands with Gibbs, the local favourite giving him good company.

Gibbs eventually fell for 13 off the bowling of Praveen Kumar trying to play across the line,caught plumb in front. Laxman didn't lost long spooning a catch to Steyn,Ryder the beneficiary this time.In walked Rohit Sharma and batted with circumspect. Meanwhile, Gilchrist strode past his half century. A settled Rohit Sharma started opening up, hitting Anil Kumble for three sixes in one over. Bangalore captain took matters in his hands and introduced himself into the attack.He was immediately rewarded with the wicket of Gilchrist,but not before Gilly made a thunderous 71 studded with 5 sixes. Sharma played aggresively to get his half century with half a dozen sixes. Deccan posted a more than competitive 184/5 in 20 overs.

Bangalore had a nightmarish start losing Jesse Ryder in the first over itself. Kallis and Uthappa struggled to cope with a wonderful bowling of RP Singh and Fidel Edwards. Eventually both got out and Bangalore was tottering at 57/4 at the halfway stage. Pietersen's ego call to go after a Ojha got the better of him. Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli got together to revive the team's hopes. 'The Wall' was in majestic form playing a gutful innings and guiding a Kohli through his initial phase. Dravid through the course of his innings became the leading run scorer of IPL 2. The valiant innings of his came to an end much to his frustration. Virat Kohli fought an lost battle, running Bishnoi out during his stay in the middle. Bishnoi was gutted and rightly so.

Virat Kohli soon fell after getting his half century and with him went Bangalore's hopes. RP Singh garnered 2 wickets giving away just 17 runs in 4 overs. RP Singh also picked up the purple cap from Kumble becoming the leading wickettaker so far in DLF IPL.

Match 8:

Deccan Chargers: 184/5 in 20 overs.

Bangalore Royal Challengers: 160/8 in 20 overs.

MOM: Adam Gilchrist.