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Momentum with Kings XI

Rakesh Rao

— Photo: Akhilesh Kumar

FOR BETTER TIMES: Sourav Ganguly being greeted on arrival in Mohali on Friday.

MOHALI: Kolkata Knight Riders desperately needs to get its act together. Among the early favourites after two straight wins in the Indian Premier League, these knights in shining gear have groped in the dark for the past week. Suddenly, three defeats in six days have made Sourav Ganguly’s men look vulnerable.

Defeats apart, Ganguly is yet to lead by example. During Thursday’s loss to Rajasthan Royals, Ganguly attracted a fine of 10 per cent of his match fee for committing a Level I offence. He had asked umpire G.A. Pratap Kumar to refer to the third umpire, Graeme Smith’s claim of having taken a catch at deep mid-wicket.

Brendon McCullum had kick-started the team’s campaign in whirlwind fashion in the inaugural match at Bangalore. In the very next game, Knight Riders struggled on a poor pitch at home before eking out a win against Hyderabad.

Since then, Shah Rukh Khan’s team is struggling to find a foothold on a slippery slope. After failing to match up to current leader Chennai Super Kings, a struggling Mumbai Indians and a resurgent Rajasthan Royals, Knight Riders faces host Kings XI Punjab that has bounced back from two losses to win thrice in a row. Strangely, the ascent of Kings coincided with the descent of Knight Riders.

With the Australians and New Zealanders back on National duty, this phase of the event will bring into focus the reserve strength of the affected teams. The team that realigns its forces early and effectively stands to gain. At the same time, some of the least affected teams would like to make the most of the situation.

Contrasting results

On Thursday, Kings and Knight Riders tried out the replacements with contrasting results. Kings, which gained momentum after taming Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils in the space of three days in home games, won its first away game against Deccan Chargers.

What’s more, Shaun Marsh made his IPL debut by walking away with the ‘man-of-the-match’ award while Mahela Jayawardene looked comfortable in attacking mode.

Though Kings does not have a quality replacement for Brett Lee, the presence of Australians James Hopes and Luke Pomersbach gives Yuvraj an option to deal with an out-of-form Ramnaresh Sarwan.

However, Hopes has missed a few games due to a stomach ailment. On the brighter side, most Punjab batsmen have been among the runs. But the same cannot be said about Knight Riders.

It would be interesting to see how speedster Ishant Sharma bowls on the PCA Stadium pitch. Since the surface assists pace and bounce, Lee had made the most of it. Now it is Ishant’s turn to showcase his repertoire.

Yet to fire

Knight Riders, without McCullum, Ricky Ponting and an unfit Chris Gayle, lacks the look of authority in batting. Reinforcements Salman Butt and Brad Hodge are yet to fire. Ganguly, with a half-century on Thursday, showed signs of rediscovering his form. David Hussey can be relied upon but the rest do not inspire much confidence.

In the bowling department, Ganguly has shown more faith in the fast bowlers. With the new ball, Ashok Dinda has stood out. It should not come as a surprise if Ganguly persists with a spin-less attack by including Ishant, Gul, Ajit Agarkar and Laxmi Ratan Shukla.

However, going by the quality of performances of the two teams in the past week, Kings should fancy its chances of winning a fourth match in a row.

The teams (from):

Kings XI Punjab: Yuvraj Singh (capt.), Shaun Marsh, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Kumar Sangakkara, Yuvraj Singh, Mahela Jayawardene, Karan Goel, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, S. Sreesanth, V. R. V. Singh, Gagandeep Singh, James Hopes and Luke Pomersbach.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Sourav Ganguly (capt.), Salman Butt, Ajit Agarkar, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Debabrata Das, Prashanta Saha, Umar Gul, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda and Murali Kartik.

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