MS Dhoni-led Rising Pune Supergiants
After
getting off the mark courtesy an all-round show to down MS Dhoni-led
Rising Pune Supergiants by 6 wickets, Kings XI Punjab face an uphill
task when they host in-form Kolkata Knight Riders at the PCA Stadium in
Mohali on Tuesday (April 19).
The two teams have had contrasting journeys so far in the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). While Punjab struggled in their first two games, especially with the bat, they bounced back strongly to win their third one comprehensively. Kolkata's only loss in as many games a 6-wicket drubbing at the hands of Mumbai Indians, can be attributed to Rohit Sharma's brilliance with the bat rather than them having a bad day in office.
Openers Murali Vijay and Manan Vohra have been in supreme touch but Punjab's middle order has been shaky. Glenn Maxwell chipped in with a typical 14-ball cameo worth 32 to save the chase against RSPG but the Australian star hasn't been as consistent. The management's biggest concern, however, must be the captain David Miller's indifferent form. To add to it, Shaun Marsh too has not had a great outing with the bat in the two games he had played since recovering from food poisoning. Bowling-wise, Sandeep Sharma and Mohit Sharma's disciplined bowling restricted the Supergiants to a below-par 152 but, over the course of three games, none of their slower bowlers have been as effective.
Kolkata, on the other hand, find themselves in a tricky situation. The fine form of their top three Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey means the middle-order has had far less exposure as the management would have liked, especially ahead of a game where the pitch is expected to be laden with runs. However, their two victories so far chasing 99 against Delhi Daredevils and 143 against Sunrisers Hyderabad have been set up by the bowlers. Despite lacking a 'big name' in their line-up, on paper, KKR head into the game as favourites.
When: Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Match 13 on April 19 at 20:00 IST
Where: Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali
What to expect: It rained, unexpectedly, very briefly in parts of Chandigarh tricity in the evening but the weather forecast for the match day is clear skies with a high of 37 degrees. The pitch, as seen in the last two games played here, is expected to be a delight for the batsmen.
Team News
Both the teams cancelled their training sessions ahead of Tuesday's clash. While there are no injury concerns in the Punjab camp, John Hastings, KKR all-rounder, has been ruled out of the tournament with an ankle injury he sustained in a warm-up session before their home game against Mumbai Indians.
What they said:
That's always an issue when you play this form of the game and you chase and the top order bats so well. But it's not a bad situation to be in. Obviously, we'd be delighted if we had three wins and no losses. Look, we learnt a lot from the second game (against Mumbai Indians). We learnt that we were sloppy on the field and we addressed that. And the way the boys bounced back in Hyderabad particularly with the ball and on the field was impressive. Sometimes you have to go through those experiences to learn to not take it for granted. From a batting point of view, ideally we would have liked more of the guys to have a hit but the top-order has done such a good job that they're not getting a chance - Simon Katich, Assistant Coach of Kolkata Knight Riders, on the lack of exposure of the team's middle-order.
Obviously, there's a lot of think about when it comes to captaincy. You learn that early in the role. Like I said, going out to bat, I'd like to think the same things. Do all the normal things that I normally do. I want to work hard and hopefully in the next two or three games I can come up with a match-winning innings - David Miller, Kings XI Punjab captain, said after the team's first win, when asked whether he's feeling the pressure of captaincy
Did you know?
KKR have defeated KXIP 10 times the most against an opposition in IPL. In the last six encounters between the two teams, KKR has won all six matches
Sunil Narine has taken 20 wickets against KXIP at 13.2 and an economy rate of 6.6. It is also the most he has against any opposition
KXIP win against RPSG was their first successful chase in previous six encounters. Before the eight straight loses, they had seven wins in a row batting second
KXIP has had two fifty partnerships for the opening wicket in as many games at the homeground so far in this year. They didn't have one in the four seasons between 2012 to 2015
KKR have taken the most wickets in Powerplays in IPL 2016 eight, Also they have lost just one wicket in the same period while batting
The two teams have had contrasting journeys so far in the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). While Punjab struggled in their first two games, especially with the bat, they bounced back strongly to win their third one comprehensively. Kolkata's only loss in as many games a 6-wicket drubbing at the hands of Mumbai Indians, can be attributed to Rohit Sharma's brilliance with the bat rather than them having a bad day in office.
Openers Murali Vijay and Manan Vohra have been in supreme touch but Punjab's middle order has been shaky. Glenn Maxwell chipped in with a typical 14-ball cameo worth 32 to save the chase against RSPG but the Australian star hasn't been as consistent. The management's biggest concern, however, must be the captain David Miller's indifferent form. To add to it, Shaun Marsh too has not had a great outing with the bat in the two games he had played since recovering from food poisoning. Bowling-wise, Sandeep Sharma and Mohit Sharma's disciplined bowling restricted the Supergiants to a below-par 152 but, over the course of three games, none of their slower bowlers have been as effective.
Kolkata, on the other hand, find themselves in a tricky situation. The fine form of their top three Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey means the middle-order has had far less exposure as the management would have liked, especially ahead of a game where the pitch is expected to be laden with runs. However, their two victories so far chasing 99 against Delhi Daredevils and 143 against Sunrisers Hyderabad have been set up by the bowlers. Despite lacking a 'big name' in their line-up, on paper, KKR head into the game as favourites.
When: Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Match 13 on April 19 at 20:00 IST
Where: Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali
What to expect: It rained, unexpectedly, very briefly in parts of Chandigarh tricity in the evening but the weather forecast for the match day is clear skies with a high of 37 degrees. The pitch, as seen in the last two games played here, is expected to be a delight for the batsmen.
Team News
Both the teams cancelled their training sessions ahead of Tuesday's clash. While there are no injury concerns in the Punjab camp, John Hastings, KKR all-rounder, has been ruled out of the tournament with an ankle injury he sustained in a warm-up session before their home game against Mumbai Indians.
What they said:
That's always an issue when you play this form of the game and you chase and the top order bats so well. But it's not a bad situation to be in. Obviously, we'd be delighted if we had three wins and no losses. Look, we learnt a lot from the second game (against Mumbai Indians). We learnt that we were sloppy on the field and we addressed that. And the way the boys bounced back in Hyderabad particularly with the ball and on the field was impressive. Sometimes you have to go through those experiences to learn to not take it for granted. From a batting point of view, ideally we would have liked more of the guys to have a hit but the top-order has done such a good job that they're not getting a chance - Simon Katich, Assistant Coach of Kolkata Knight Riders, on the lack of exposure of the team's middle-order.
Obviously, there's a lot of think about when it comes to captaincy. You learn that early in the role. Like I said, going out to bat, I'd like to think the same things. Do all the normal things that I normally do. I want to work hard and hopefully in the next two or three games I can come up with a match-winning innings - David Miller, Kings XI Punjab captain, said after the team's first win, when asked whether he's feeling the pressure of captaincy
Did you know?
KKR have defeated KXIP 10 times the most against an opposition in IPL. In the last six encounters between the two teams, KKR has won all six matches
Sunil Narine has taken 20 wickets against KXIP at 13.2 and an economy rate of 6.6. It is also the most he has against any opposition
KXIP win against RPSG was their first successful chase in previous six encounters. Before the eight straight loses, they had seven wins in a row batting second
KXIP has had two fifty partnerships for the opening wicket in as many games at the homeground so far in this year. They didn't have one in the four seasons between 2012 to 2015
KKR have taken the most wickets in Powerplays in IPL 2016 eight, Also they have lost just one wicket in the same period while batting
Teams:
Kings XI Punjab
(From): Manan Vohra, Murali Vijay, Shaun Marsh, David Miller(c), Glenn
Maxwell, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Axar Patel, Kyle Abbott, Mohit Sharma,
Pardeep Sahu, Sandeep Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Rishi Dhawan, Marcus
Stoinis, Anureet Singh, Farhaan Behardien, Shardul Thakur, Gurkeerat
Singh Mann, Nikhil Naik, Mitchell Johnson, Cariappa, Armaan Jaffer
Kolkata Knight Riders
(From): Robin Uthappa(w), Gautam Gambhir(c), Manish Pandey, Andre
Russell, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Suryakumar Yadav, Piyush Chawla,
Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav, Morne Morkel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat,
Chris Lynn, Colin Munro, Sheldon Jackson, Rajagopal Sathish, Manan
Sharma, Jason Holder, Brad Hogg, Ankit Rajpoot
