Kings XI Punjab’s confidence is pretty high after their facile win over Gujrat Loins in their opener at Rajkot three days ago. It is good for them their their captain Glen Maxwell is is terrific form as he finished in style scoring a quickfire 44 off 20 balls. Hashim Amla also looked in good touch and their only worry is the injury to their key player Murali Vijay. If he is fit they don;t need to bother about their batting. ‘Today they will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore who made a good comeback, beating Delhi Daredevils in their second match.
When we talk about the strengths and weaknesses of both the teams, some statistics of key players make it more interesting. Chris Galye, who is yet to strike his real form is the leading overseas player with 3464 runs to his name and he has scored 797 runs against Kings XI, which includes two centuries. But he also got out more times to Sandeep Sharma and Axar Patel, and it was the bowlers who won the battle when they bowled to him, not conceding many runs and each getting him out thrice. It will be interesting when he faces these two today. With Sandeep in good form the battle will be even more exciting. Likewise David Miller only IPL century came against RCB and he also looked in good touch in the opening match.The participation of Virat Kohli and AB devilliers seems t be doubtful.
In the yesterday’s matches, Sunrisers Hyderabad continued its dominance scoring their second consecutive win. David Warner and Moises Henriques toyed with the Loins attack, when they chased 130 plus. Both the Australians scored fine half centuries after Shikar Dhavan got out early.
In the other match, which turned out to be a cliff-hanger Mumbai Indians overcame Kolkatta Kinght riders with just one ball remaining. Chasing a huge 179, Mumbai almost were in danger of losing before Hardik Pandya and Rana lifted their hopes with some brilliant batting. Both hammered the KKR bowlers in the last three overs when they needed 40 plus. Earlier in KKR innings Manish Pandey made magnificent 81 off 44 balls, while Chris Lynn made a quick 32. Unfortunately Lynn got injured while attempting a diving catch and his further participation now seems to be in jeopardy.
Mahavaadi Sudeer– DD Commentator
