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Match-winners galore in Kings XI

Rakesh Rao

— Photo: PTI

MY TURN: Kings XI has had contributions from different players in all its victories. On Monday S. Sreesanth did the trick.

NEW DELHI: Kings XI Punjab has overcome the teething troubles and is firmly on a roll.

When most teams are still busy finding a combination that works in the DLF-Indian Premier League, Yuvraj Singh’s team has found a different match-winner in each of its five victories that followed two defeats.

At the halfway stage, Kings looks well placed to book a spot in the semifinals. It shares the top spot with Rajasthan Royals, which has played one match less so far.

What augurs well for Punjab is the fact that it has not depended on just one or two names to overpower the opposition.

Kumar Sangakkara, Simon Katich, Shaun Marsh, Irfan Pathan and S. Sreesanth have won Man-of-the-Match awards in the last five outings, in that order.

In addition, James Hopes, Yuvraj and Mahela Jayawardene have all got at least one good innings behind them. Though the team will surely miss the intimidating presence of Brett Lee, it has found a replacement for Katich, who had to report for the preparatory camp ahead of the tour to West Indies.

One step at a time

Coach Tom Moody and Yuvraj have repeatedly spoken of “carrying on the momentum” after beating Mumbai Indians in the third match.

Since then, Moody has been busy at looking at areas of improvement. He stays focused on the next match and refuses to look too far ahead in the competition.

“It is a sort of competition where one or two overs can change the course of the match. Still, you have to plan for every situation. And more importantly, execute the plans.

“Even in some of the matches that we won, we did not take all our chances. So that leaves us with some more work to do,” added Moody, indicating that he wishes to learn from every situation.

Yuvraj may not have done a great deal with the bat so far but his on-field decisions have saved him the blushes. Irfan, Sreesanth, V.R.V. Singh, Piyush Chawla and Gagandeep Singh have done well in turns.

With Irfan and Chawla coming good with the bat late in the innings against Kolkata Knight Riders, Yuvraj can be confident about the batting depth of the team.

At the top, Marsh has played well in all three outings. After missing three games, Hopes is back. This Australian all-rounder impressed one and all in the opener against Chennai Super Kings but a stomach virus and a sore shoulder had put him out after two games.

However, Sangakkara’s non-availability due to a side strain may impact the balance of the team. In the match against Bangalore, Punjab had to bring in an out of form Ramnaresh Sarwan and debutant wicketkeeper Uday Kaul for Sangakkara and Karan Goel, the youngster who has show signs of gaining in confidence.

Decent job

Luckily for Punjab, Sarwan gave ample indications of regaining his touch and Kaul did a decent job behind the stumps.

For the moment, Punjab and Jaipur appear to be among the most balanced teams in the competition.

In the second leg of the league, the other four teams have a lot of catching up to do in order to make the knockout-stage.

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