Like Thursday’s showers in Jaipur and the speed with which balls disappear, T20 matches can end before you can say the word ‘momentum’. Most IPL captains though, have been professing their faith in a streak of wins to progress in the tournament. It’s the closest to a formula they all seem to have settled on. Rajasthan had momentum on their side till they ran into Mumbai, who in turn are picking some steam of their own now. Hyderabad are gunning for momentum after having won against Chennai. When the Royals and Deccan Chargers meet in Jaipur on Friday, it turns out the semi-final spots are all up for grabs. What makes it more interesting is that the last time they met, the result was decided off the penultimate ball of the match. The return-revenge also loses its possible sting since Andrew Symonds — the chief aggrieved party then, who thundered a hundred in Hyderabad and then admittedly bowled the worst last over in T20 — is not even here.But Friday would be a battle resumed between Hyderabad’s pack of lusty hitters — Gilchrist, Styris, Afridi — besides their stylists VVS Laxman (his hand’s recovering, but will take final call only on afternoon of the game) and Rohit Sharma, and Rajasthan’s bowling-machinery, with Warne’s explicit focus on the art of surprising.That shock loss to resurgent Mumbai means the Royals might be in need of shrugging off some complacency that might have crept in after their early leap to the top of the table, while Hyderabad’s inherent trouble in getting all that batting-talent to fire means captain Laxman is still left explaining. “Everyone’s trying hard, trying to play the big shots, sometimes it comes off. It’s been disappointing that we haven’t all fired, but the experience of having played against Warne once will be handy now,” he says.While the surprises could come from a RP Singh or a Sanjay Bangar for Hyderabad, Jaipur could find their own heroes in Swapnil Asnodkar and Yusuf Pathan. And of course, there’s Shane Warne weaving his magic or Laxman reiterating his supremacy in what is uniquely billed as his own battle against strike-rates of a T20 scorecard.
