IPL 2011: Deccan Chargers vs Kochi TUskers: Deccan Chargers take on Kochi Tuskers Kerala in an Indian Premier League encounter on Wednesday where a defeat could make their task of reaching the knock-out stage next to impossible.

Chargers have four points from six games and of their remaining eight games, will have to win at least six more to have any chance of progressing in the fourth edition of the IPL. Chargers are on a two match losing streak and will have their task cut out against giant killers Kochi, who lost to Rajasthan Royals in the last game but have beaten Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders so far.

Deccan's problems lie in an out of form batting line-up and an inconsistent bowling attack that has not allowed them to play as well as they can. Apart from Kumar Sangakkara, only Bharat Chipli and Shikhar Dhawan have looked in decent form while the foreign players, Cameron White, Jean Paul Duminy and Daniel Christian have not lived up to expectations.

For any IPL team to succeed, the contribution needs to come equally from the internationals and the domestic Indian players but in Deccan's case, it's the lesser known players who are shouldering the burden of scoring runs along with skipper Sangakkara.

The Chargers could look to give Michael Lumb a go at the top of the order as White (32 runs from 2 innings) and Duminy (60 from 4) are struggling. Chargers have a very well-balanced bowling attack with Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma as the pace bowlers, Christian the medium pacer and Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha as the spinners.

But the bowling too has not been as consistent as it can be and it has hurt the Chargers badly, like in the game against Mumbai Indians when they conceded 40 runs in the last two overs.

Brining in Rusty Theron in place of Christian will give the Chargers more options in the bowling department even though they lose out a little bit in the batting. Kochi will be happy to take on Chargers having suffered an embarrassing eight-wicket loss to the Royals.

If Brendon McCullum has recovered from injury, the Kochi batting will be much more formidable, the New Zealander has already played a few match-winning innings and formed a good opening partnership with skipper Mahela Jaywardene.

Kochi will also be hoping Brad Hodge manages to get a big innings under his belt as his explosive batting can be handy in the end overs, a job that Ravindra Jadeja is doing now. With RP Singh, IPL's highest wicket-taker, showing signs of coming in form, the Kochi bowling is also looking good. Vinay Kumar has been good with the ball as well and Muttiah Muralitharan and Jadeja have also done their bit. Kochi have struggled with their fifth bowler with Raiphi Gomez, Ramesh Powar and Thisara Perera all failing to impress and Deccan will be looking to capitalise on this.

Kochi will start as favourites on the basis of having a better balanced side but they have chinks in their armour that Deccan can exploit and get their campaign back on target.