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Last chance for Rajasthan to lay claim to Qualifiers

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Press Trust of India Hyderabad
Rajasthan Royals need to quickly recover from the shock arrest of their players on spot-fixing charges as they square-off against a desperate Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last Pepsi IPL league match here tomorrow.

The mood in the team would be sombre after the arrest of three players, including paceman S Sreesanth, by the Delhi police last night.

With 20 points, Rajasthan are assured of a place in play-offs but they would like to take their tally to 22 so that they are in with a chance to play Qualifier and not the Eliminator.

And they are playing a team which is desperate to win their last two clashes to edge out Royal Challengers Bangalore in the battle for the fourth place.
 

Hyderabad and Bangalore have 16 points each but the host for tomorrow's match have two matches to improve their chances. But Bangalore have one last match and the maximum they can get is 18 points.

Hyderabad have the best bowling attack in this edition of IPL with the presence of world's best paceman Dale Steyn, Ishant Sharma, West Indies Captain Darren Sammy, wily leg-spinner Amit Mishra, Sri Lankan paceman Thisara Perera and in-form spinner Karan Sharma.

However, the quality bowling department of late has been receiving little respect from the opponents. Mumbai Indians treated them with utter disdain when they met last time and the hosts need to correct mistakes of that match.

Perera and Mishra were at the receiving end of Kieron Pollard's blistering attack. Pollard's brilliant innings powered MI to a seven-wicket victory over the visitors.

Ishant and the spinners were also thrashed by Suresh Raina and Michael Hussey in their match against Chennai Super Kings here on May 8.

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First Published: May 16 2013 | 1:25 PM IST

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