Early contenders look for reassuring win
Three points separate seven teams at around the half-way stage, which makes the game between Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians a crucial one
Match facts
May 6, 2009Start time 16.30 (14.30GMT)
Big Picture
Three points separate seven teams at around the half-way stage. So tight is the table that on Tuesday, Rajasthan Royals jumped from No. 7 to No. 2 with their win against Kings XI Punjab, only to be pushed back to third following Delhi Daredevils' victory over Kolkata Knight Riders later in the night. No one team can be convinced of making the semi-finals, which makes almost every game in these middle stages crucial. Especially when Deccan Chargers are playing Mumbai Indians, two teams that started off so well they were talked of as title contenders.Form guide (completed matches, most recent first)
Ryan Harris, Edwards' replacement, went for 39 runs in his four overs against Chennai Super Kings.
Lasith Malinga hasn't opened the bowling in his last two games, and has gone for 47 runs in 7.1 overs - a big contrast to the 57 he had given away in 14.2 previous overs.
Watch out for
RP v Tendulkar and Jayasuriya: In Edwards' absence, RP Singh could well determine which way Deccan go from here on. He has achieved a personal target through this IPL, a return to the Indian squad for the World Twenty20, but now is the time for him to take his game a notch higher. His key men in the opening spell will be Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar. RP got Jayasuriya out for 1 in the previous match, but he will know a lot of it was down to the pressure Edwards created.Team news
Deccan could try Chaminda Vaas ahead of Harris. And their other trouble has been the No. 3 batsman. VVS Laxman has scored 19 in five innings, Azhar Bilakhia hasn't been too impressive either.Stats and trivia
- Gilchrist has scored 210 runs in the tournament, while his Mumbai counterpart, Tendulkar, has 209. Matthew Hayden holds the orange cap with 289.
Head-to-head
In their first game this season, Deccan won when Mumbai lost their way following the strategy time-out of their chase of 169.Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo