Inconsistent is their middle name these days but the Kolkata Knight Riders will look to avert that calamity when they prepare for a humongous challenge of the Kings XI Punjab as the sides clash in an IPL encounter on Sunday.
Inconsistent is their middle name these days but the Kolkata Knight Riders will look to avert that calamity when they prepare for a humongous challenge of the Kings XI Punjab as the sides clash in an IPL encounter on Sunday. The last time these two sides met, it turned out to be a low-scoring but Punjab took the honours as the victorious side. But given the form of deadly duo of Glenn Maxwell and David Miller are in, KKR`s bowlers need to be at their level best if they are to challenge the table topping side at the Barabati stadium.
The batting line-up of Kings XI Punjab has been in marauding form. If Maxwell and Miller were not enough, Indian outcast Virender Sehwag is also rediscovering his touch. In the match against Delhi, Kolkata`s batting clicked with skipper Gautam Gambhir leading the way with a half-century. Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey also churned up the scores as they look to build on the momentum against the mighty Kings XI.
On the bowling front, KKR can take some confidence from the fact that they managed to restrict Punjab`s marauding batsmen the last time these two teams clashed. Mystery spinner Sunil Narine would once again be their trump card while the likes of Shakib Al-Hasan and Morne Morkel too need to up their gear.
KXIP pacer Sandeep Sharma has been in consistent form and is currently third in the list of top wicket-takers this season after scalping 13 in six matches. After a slow start, Australian speed gun Mitchell Johnson is coming into form.
Teams:
Kings XI Punjab: George Bailey (C), David Miller, Manan Vohra, Virender Sehwag, Mitchell Johnson, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shaun Marsh, Wriddhiman Saha, Thisara Perera, Glenn Maxwell, Rishi Dhawan, Anureet Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Akshar Patel, Beuran Hendricks, Karanveer Singh, Murali Kartik, Shivam Sharma, Shardul Thakur, L Balaji, Parvinder Awana, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Mandeep Singh.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (c), Sunil Narine, Jacques Kallis, Robin Uthappa, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Morne Morkel, Piyush Chawla, Manish Pandey, Veer Pratap Singh, Chris Lynn, Andre Russell, SS Mandal, Pat Cummins, Debabrata Das, Suryakumar Yadav, Manvinder Bisla, Ryan ten Doeschate, Kuldeep Yadav.
