Kings XI faces tough home test against Kolkata
Series: Indian Premier League, 2016 Venue: Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali Date & Time: Apr 19, 08:00 PM LOCAL
KKR have four points from three games with two wins under their belt, Kings XI opened their account against Pune.
Having notched up their first victory against Pune
Supergiants, an upbeat Kings XI Punjab face the all-round might of
two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders in an Indian Premier League
cricket tournament encounter, in Mohali on Tuesday.
While
KKR have four points from three games with two wins under their belt,
Kings XI opened their account with a six-wicket win against Pune on
Sunday.
On paper, KKR are overwhelming favourites
against Punjab with a more balanced outfit but reputations count for
little in the shortest format as most of the contests are won on the
day.
Expect an interesting battle between KKR’s much
vaunted batting line-up against KXIP’s bowling which has looked
disciplined during their last match against Pune on a two-paced wicket.
So
there could be some intriguing smaller battle within the battles. How
Gambhir tackles Mohit Sharma’s slower deliveries or how Sandeep Sharma
can stop Andre Russell from hitting those towering sixes.
It will also be a challenge for KXIP spinners like Axar Patel as KKR is one side which has quality batsmen against slow bowlers.
For
Knight Riders, the best part about their journey since Gambhir taking
over in 2011 is the amount of consistency that they have shown over the
years.
Not only have they won the title twice in 2012
and 2014 but more importantly have stuck with their core group of
players in thick and thin during these years.
Skipper
Gambhir, opener Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Andre
Russell and Sunil Narine have all settled down in their respective roles
in the past few years giving them a dangerous look despite the absence
of a huge star in the ranks of a Kohli, Dhoni or AB de Villiers.
They
have been more or less clinical in their two wins against Daredevils at
home and Sunrisers in an away game. The loss against Mumbai Indians
could be attributed more to Rohit Sharma’s individual brilliance backed
up nicely by Jos Buttler’s pyrotechnics.
The best
part about KKR’s campaign so far has been Gambhir’s form as he is on top
of the run-getters’ table with 192 runs at a healthy strike-rate of
125.49. He has been playing the role of sheet anchor to perfection as
has forged a good opening partnership with Robin Uthappa.
Uthappa’s
81 runs in three matches may not look big in terms of volume but in
both the wins, his contributions have been 35 and 38.
While
it may not actually be a cause of worry, the nine-wicket win against
Daredevils and eight-wicket win against Sunrisers but KKR’s middle-order
has not been put to test during the three matches that they have
played.
However with a three-pronged spin attack of
Narine, Piyush Chawla and Shakib Al Hasan, KKR can put the KXIP batting
to test which has not been very consistent in their three matches so
far.
Apart from these three, KKR also have veteran
chinaman bowler Brad Hogg, who has also done well in the two matches
that he has played.
The pace duties are expected to be shared between Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav and Russell.
In
KXIP team, Manan Vohra, who has scored 38, 32 and 51 in the three
matches, the others have not lived up to the expectations. Glenn
Maxwell’s 14-ball-32 did help in their win against Pune Supergiants but
Maxwell has had a struggle on Indian pitches since the start of the
World T20.
The big shots have not come off as
frequently as he would have expected. The worrying factor for KXIP is
Maxwell’s 34 runs in 3 matches and skipper David Miller’s 31 in 3 games.
That has put the team under lot of pressure with another seasoned campaigner Shaun Marsh scoring only 17 in 2 games.
But
in the three games, the shining light for KXIP has been their two
pacers Sandeep Sharma (4 wickets) and Mohit Sharma (3 wickets),
especially Mohit, who is also coming back from an injury. They have had
decent economy rates of 5.55 and 6.57 respectively in the three matches
so far.
He has shown the ability to mix and match his
deliveries, varying the pace effectively during death overs. Sandeep
has also bowled in good areas.
The problem area for
KXIP in their bowling has been spinners Axar Patel and Pardeep Sahu,
both of whom have leaked runs in the three matches that they have
played. KXIP will certainly look at trying out someone in place of Sahu —
may be mystery spinner KC Cariappa or India discard all-rounder
Gurkeerat Singh Mann.
Teams (from):
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Gautham Gambhir (capt), Piyush Chawla, John Hastings, Brad Hogg, Jason
Holder, Sheldon Jackson, Kuldeep Yadav, Chris Lynn, Manan Sharma, Morne
Morkel, Colin Munro, Sunil Narine, Manish Pandey, Yusaf Pathan, Ankit
Rajput, Andre Russell, Rajgopal Satish, Shakib Al Hasan, Jaydev Unadkat,
Robin Uthappa, Suryakumar Yadav and Umesh Yadav.
Kings XI Punjab:
Kings XI Punjab: David Miller (Capt.), Kyle Abbott, Murali Vijay, Manan
Vohra, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Anureet Singh,
Axar Patel, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Pardeep Sahu, Sandeep Sharma, Mohit
Sharma, Marcus Stoinis, Swapnil Singh, Armaan Jaffer, Farhaan Behardien,
KC Cariappa, Rishi Dhawan, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Nikhil Naik, Shardul
Thakur.
Match Starts at 8 pm.
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