The Indian Premier League 2014 playoffs will kick-start from Tuesday onward and in the first qualifier, the Kings XI Punjab will travel to the Eden Gardens to take on the Kolkata Knight Riders.
For a team which has never made it to the second stage of the IPL since the first season of the competition, the Kings XI Punjab have been a revelation this year.
Under a new captain and coach combination of George Bailey and Sanjay Bangar – a former Indian opener – the side has excelled thanks to the outstanding batting of the top-order and a reasonable and a steady bowling attack.
Glenn Maxwell’s form may have tailed off since he smashed his third 90 of the tournament against Chennai earlier in the month, but he has played a huge part in pushing the side through to this stage.
Then there has been David Miller, who has blasted off nearly 400 runs as well and chipped in later in the order with useful contributions throughout the season.
Virender Sehwag may not retain his eye of the old but he has proved to be more than useful with his starts while Manan Vohra’s late entry to the opening spot has allowed them to get away with some crackers, even when the former Indian opening batsman has taken time to get his eye in.
A top spot in the points table, with 11 wins and three losses is the kind of record one would usually associate with a team like Chennai Super Kings, but Punjab have carved out those many wins this season. Chennai and Punjab’s opponents in this game, Kolkata, had only nine wins.
Facing up to them will be the Knight Riders, who have the look of a team which has not only attained the formula to win but also grown in stature with every victory, thereby making it tougher for their opponents every match.
And unlike the Kings XI Punjab, this isn’t quite the unknown territory for them, having won the title in 2012.
Much like Punjab, Kolkata’s march of seven wins from as many games, has been based on one batsman’s consistency and the others’ reliability.
Robin Uthappa was nowhere in the list of top run-getters after the first half of the tournament and suddenly he has catapulted to the number one spot. Since being dismissed for a duck in their game against Rajasthan in Abu Dhabi, Uthappa has scored 496 runs in nine innings to propel his tally to more than 600 runs.
More vitally, all those nine innings have seen him get at least 40 leading to a consistent start for the Knight Riders each time.
However, what’s also made Kolkata a potent force has been their bowling. In Sunil Narine, they have a Purple Cap holder with 20 wickets at 16.55. His economy is less than six as well.
And he has good support from Morne Morkel and Shakib al Hasan, both of whom have picked up 10 wickets apiece in the season so far. The trio will be used in bursts by captain Gautam Gambhir each time there’s a much-revered batsman who’s just walked out to the middle.
There will be, if at all, very few changes to the starting XIs of the sides as they look to back their players rather than chop and change before such a vital game. I still feel Jacques Kallis has a place in the side and he could walk in for Ryan ten Doeschate in this game.
Punjab may bring Sandeep Sharma back into the playing XI.
Calling a winner in this one will be a tough job but if the track remains as easy as it has been throughout the tournament, batting second will be the way to go.
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