Hayden riding the crest of a wave

Published May 13, 2009

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Get Matthew Hayden. That will be the message from Ray Jennings, coach of the Bangalore Royal Challengers, to his players when they meet the Chennai Super Kings in a crucial Indian Premier League game at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead on Thursday.

The big Australian, who retired from international cricket after an illustrious career in the Test and One-Day International arenas, has been a huge success in the 2009 IPL.

He has been in blistering form, scoring 426 runs from nine innings, with a highest score of 89 and an average of 47.33, while his strike-rate is an astonishing 151.60. He has crossed the 50-mark three times and has crashed 17 sixes into grandstands all over the country.

In 2008 another Australian dominated the batting - Shaun Marsh, who racked up more than 600 runs for the Kings XI Punjab. This season, though, Marsh is not participating in the IPL as he is carrying an injury which also forced him out of the Australian squad for the series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.

Hayden has had an extraordinary IPL and the Super Kings have built their innings around a man who is not intimidated by opposition bowlers from the moment he walks out to bat.

He is a carefree cricketer these days as there are none of the pressures of Test cricket or the grind of One-Day Internationals. He seems relaxed and his love of surfing and Twenty20 format has rejuvenated him.

He hits the waves whenever he lands in Durban in the same way he flays the bowlers to all parts of the field while at the crease for the Super Kings.

On Thursday the Royal Challengers, who are still not out of the running for a semi-final spot - thanks to the helping hands of the other teams - will have to rein Hayden in if they hope to stop the Super Kings, who are in second spot on the table.

But it will not only be Hayden that Jennings will look to get rid of early in the innings.

There is the in-form Suresh Raina, who has taken to the South African conditions without a hint of a problem.

The rotund Super Kings star has blasted 309 runs from nine starts - 15 sixes and 24 fours in that total - and looks better each time he gets to the wicket.

He occupies the second spot - behind Hayden - as the highest run scorers in this year's IPL.

The Super Kings' batting doesn't end there either. There is also the danger presented by Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the Royal Challengers, as well as Subramanian Badrinath, who has chipped in at vital times for the Chennai-based outfit.

The Royal Challengers also have class players in Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor and Virat Kohli in their batting line-up, while Anil Kumble, who leads the side, is the key to their bowling, along with Praveen Kumar, who is a talented all-rounder.

In the later game tomorrow (4.30pm) the Mumbai Indians, who were boosted by a resounding eight-wicket win over the Kings XI Punjab at SuperSport Park on Tuesday night, meet defending champions the Rajasthan Royals, who will be without their player-coach-mentor, Shane Warne, as he is carrying an injury.

West Indian Dwayne Bravo (70 not out) and Sachin Tendulkar (41 not out) were the stars for the Mumbai Indians and they will need to carry their from into Thursday's game as well.

The Royals have struggled in 2009 - injuries and the absence of their key players from last season, Pakistan bowler, Sohail Tanvir, and Aussie all-rounder, Shane Watson, have unsettled the balance of their team.

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