Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders
Match 14 of Pepsi IPL 2015 will be a repeat of last season’s final; Kings XI Punjab play host to defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders.
Kings XI Punjab have maintained more or less the same team that took them to the summit clash last season, but the results haven’t been to their liking so far. George Bailey’s team has won only one of their three matches so far; their win against the Mumbai Indians was sandwiched between defeats against Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils.
KXIP have plenty of depth in their lineup. Any one of the batsmen in their top six can win matches single-handedly. However, the two batsmen who are expected to do that more than the others – and have the opportunity of doing so because they bat in the top three – are Virender Sehwag and Glenn Maxwell. Sehwag has had starts in two of the three matches and will be keen to convert them to a big score, while Maxwell – who has had a quiet tournament so far – will be hungry to make a contribution soon.
Kolkata Knight Riders meanwhile are back in action after a six day break. Their last outing was against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 11, when they posted 177 runs on the board but were blown away by Chris Gayle’s 96. Heading into this match, the challenge for KKR will be to shrug off the rustiness caused by the break.
Skipper Gautam Gambhir and his opening partner Robin Uthappa have been the pillars on which KKR have built their success in recent times. The ploy has been for one of them to drop anchor and bat well into the second-half of the innings, and allow the rest of the stroke-makers to flourish at the other end.
Kings XI Punjab have maintained more or less the same team that took them to the summit clash last season, but the results haven’t been to their liking so far. George Bailey’s team has won only one of their three matches so far; their win against the Mumbai Indians was sandwiched between defeats against Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils.
KXIP have plenty of depth in their lineup. Any one of the batsmen in their top six can win matches single-handedly. However, the two batsmen who are expected to do that more than the others – and have the opportunity of doing so because they bat in the top three – are Virender Sehwag and Glenn Maxwell. Sehwag has had starts in two of the three matches and will be keen to convert them to a big score, while Maxwell – who has had a quiet tournament so far – will be hungry to make a contribution soon.
Kolkata Knight Riders meanwhile are back in action after a six day break. Their last outing was against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 11, when they posted 177 runs on the board but were blown away by Chris Gayle’s 96. Heading into this match, the challenge for KKR will be to shrug off the rustiness caused by the break.
Skipper Gautam Gambhir and his opening partner Robin Uthappa have been the pillars on which KKR have built their success in recent times. The ploy has been for one of them to drop anchor and bat well into the second-half of the innings, and allow the rest of the stroke-makers to flourish at the other end.