The 27th match of the DLF IPL will have the Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab play their return match.
The first match had seen the Kolkata Knight Riders win their only game in the tournament so far, in a rain-curtailed encounter.
Things have changed quite a bit since that encounter; the team from Punjab has played some wonderful cricket to win three successive games – and then lose one – while the losses for Kolkata have come thick and fast. Their previous meeting had seen Yuvraj Singh’s 38 being the top Punjab score, where as Chris Gayle’s unbeaten 44 off 26 deliveries as the Knight Riders’ top total. Piyush Chawla bowled two overs for four runs to be the most economic.
First things first though, not too many are sure of Chris Gayle’s presence in the match. And if the Kolkata (5/4 at Sky Bet to win match) team has to salvage anything out of the rest of the tournament, they need one of the top three to fire. Even if Gayle (11/4 at Boylesports) plays, this will be his last match. Amongst others from Kolkata, there is every likelihood that the batting order remains untouched from their last match loss to Mumbai; Sourav Ganguly opens, Brendon McCullum comes down the order.
Ganguly (4/1 at Sky Bet) had a first ball duck in the previous match, but opening is what he likes, and should be one of the favourites to get to a top score. On the other hand, it will be tempting to get someone like Brad Hodge (7/2 at Boylesport) into the line-up; the pitches demand a player like him in the team who could play out the overs and collect runs at just over run-a-ball.
Punjab (8/11 at Boylesport to win match) had been buoyed by an all-round performance by their skipper – a fifty and a hat-trick to his name – and yet could not win their previous game against Bangalore. The good news, though, is that Yuvraj (3/1 at Sky Bet) is timing the ball well and should be in good nick to fire away after a string of low scores. Kumar Sangakkara’s ability to guide the inning through the middle part makes him the most consistent batsman, and the one with the highest probability in each match to get to the top score – 3/1 at Sky Bet to do that.
Mahela Jayawardene, on the other hand, has looked out of sorts ever since he gave up the Sri Lankan captaincy, and Boylesports offer 6/1 for him being the top Punjab scorer.
If Gayle does play, he may also wish to make it a more memorable encounter on an individual basis, while the sense is that Ganguly should do well at the top given his penchant to open. The duo could end up having a higher first wicket stand (1/1 at Sky Bet to have higher first wicket partnership) than the make-shift one of Yuvi-Karan Goel.
Tips:
Favourites: Punjab (8/11 at Boylesport)
Top Punjab batsman: Yuvraj Singh (3/1 at Sky Bet)
Top Kolkata batsman: Sourav Ganguly (4/1 at Sky Bet)
