Daijiworld Media Network

Jaipur, May 5: The Indian T20 League celebrates its half century. It is the 50th match today and it features the clash between Rajasthan and Pune from Rajasthan. With Mumbai's big win over Chennai earlier in the day, the onus is on Rajasthan to score a big win over Pune. The home team will look to avenge their loss to Pune earlier in the competition while Pune will look to once again spoil the party.

Pune have won the toss and elected to bat.

Dravid: 'We have played well in Rajasthan and we have played well. This is a good cricket wicket and we have executed our skills well. We have to focus on what we do and we will look to play good cricket. This is the business end of the tournament and we cannot afford to slip up. The conditions have been good for the bowlers. The wicket will not change much. We were looking to bowl first anyway. We have four changes today. Watson, Cooper, Hodge and Faulkner are the four foreigners. We have to respect the opposition today.'

Finch: 'The guys have been supportive and I am enjoying my stint. A few wins will be good for the team. We have to come out and be aggressive. The main aim is to spoil the party of the other teams. The wicket looks great and there is some grass. We will bat first and the first six overs are crucial. Parnell gets his first game and Mitchell Marsh replaces Steve Smith. Krishnakant Upadhyay replaces Dinda. Mahesh Rawat will keep wickets.'

Teams:

Rajasthan (Playing XI): Shane Watson, Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson(w), Rahul Dravid(c), Brad Hodge, Sachin Baby, Stuart Binny, Kevon Cooper, James Faulkner, Ajit Chandila, Siddharth Trivedi

Pune (Playing XI): Aaron Finch(c), Robin Uthappa, Udit Birla, Yuvraj Singh, Mitchell Marsh, Angelo Mathews, Mahesh Rawat(w), Wayne Parnell, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Krishnakant Upadhyay, Rahul Sharma

Match Preview

'Revenge' would be on top of Rajasthan's agenda when they host a struggling Pune in an Indian T20 League match at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, on Sunday. The last time the two sides met in Pune on April 11, the Rajasthan were comfortably beaten by seven wickets with Pune skipper Aaron Finch hitting a classy half-century while chasing a 146-run target.

But since then, Pune`s campaign has gone completely haywire as they find themselves currently at the bottom of the points table with just two wins from 11 matches played so far.

Desperate to make amends, Pune face an uphill task to tame Rajasthan in their own den, which has been a happy hunting ground for them.

Rajasthan

They have an unblemished home record this season. But they have looked a pale shadow of themselves in away matches, the most recent being the eight-wicket thrashing at the hands of Kolkata in Eden Gardens on Friday night.

Despite the loss, Rajasthan have maintained their hold on the third spot on the points table. They can seek solace from the fact that they have converted their home venue into a fortress where they had defeated the likes of Mumbai and Bangalore.

Rajasthan used their knowledge about the pitch and weather condition to perfection and that will give them the confidence to put behind their Sunday night defeat and regroup themselves quickly to make the final surge towards securing a play-off berth.

Australian all-rounder Shane Watson and 18-year-old Kerala lad Sanju Samson have been the positives for Rajasthan.

Watson has so far amassed 349 runs from eight games while Samson, whose 63 off 41 balls while chasing 172 against Bangalore, has caught the attention of many rival camps.

Watson has proved handy with the ball too, picking up six wickets so far. But Samson has been the find of the season for the Rajasthan as his useful contributions with the bat has provided the Rajasthan outfit the much-needed impetus in the middle-order.

Watson, who recently stepped down as the vice-captain of Australia, will once again be a vital cog in the scheme of things against Pune.

For skipper Rahul Dravid, it would be important to see how his men put behind the Kolkata defeat and come out strongly on home turf on Sunday.

The batting for the hosts looks good with Watson firing at the top and the likes of Dravid and Ajinkya Rahane providing the much-needed solidity. Brad Hodge, Stuart Binny and Dishant Yagnik have also come good when required.

On the bowling front, left-arm pacer James Faulkner has been a revelation, while Sidharth Trivedi and Binny have produced consistent performances. However, temperamental pacer S Sreesanth has failed to live up to his expectation.

The hosts have also used spinners Ajit Chandila and Ankit Chavan as surprise weapons. However, one thing which surprised many was Dravid`s change in the batting order against Kolkata.

Dravid came in to bat at No. 8 on Sunday, possibly the lowest he has ever batted and the former India captain would not like to experiment again with the settled combination.

Pune

On the other hand, Pune cup of woes is brimming over. They suffered their sixth straight loss against Bangalore the other day.

And come Sunday it won`t be an easy task for Finch`s boys as they are up against an ever-improving Rajasthan side.

Pune have been woefully out of sorts and inconsistent in all departments of the game. Their batting and bowling has is yet to click together in the tournament.

Their batting is yet to fire in unison and barring Finch`s three half-centuries and Uthappa`s maiden half-century this season, no other Pune batsman, which also includes the likes of Yuvraj Singh, has scored a fifty so far.

In their last match, Uthappa came good with the bat with a fiery 45-ball 75 and the team would be looking for many such contributions from him in their remaining games.

Australian Steve Smith has chipped in with useful contributions, but Yuvraj hasn`t fired with the bat in this edition and has managed just 156 runs from his eight games.

Bowling also remains a big concern for Pune as most of their bowlers have leaked runs especially pacer Ashoke Dinda,, who went for 52 runs from his four against Bangalore.

Poor death bowling has been hurting Pune. They gave away 68 runs in the last five overs against Bangalore and conceded 62 off their last five against Chennai.

But Pune will take heart from the fact Kane Richardson and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar are complementing each other well.

CB's pick: Rajasthan have made their home ground a fortress, it will make it even more tough for Pune to notch up another win.