IPL 5 – Kolkata Knight Riders favourites to clinch the title – Play-offs Preview – Part One
The play-off stage of the fifth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is going to start today with a fixture between Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Historically, both the teams have not done that well in the cash-rich league and neither
side has ever qualified for the final of the tournament. However, history will change today as one of these two make it through.
These two teams have been absolutely brilliant in the current season and have been miles ahead of the pack. Apart from the points table, Delhi and Kolkata have evidently outclassed all the other teams in the tournament.
The other two sides to have qualified for the play-offs, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, have not been as convincing this year as they have been in the past. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 finished at number three after the league stage with 20 points but most of their
wins have been extremely marginal. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KA-Pollard-c1754 missed some matches due to their respective injuries.
Chennai on the other hand, has relied on other teams to sneak through to the last four. The defending champions have been below par in the on-going season and their batting has struggled to post big runs on the board consistently.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 have been prolific run-getters for the franchise over the years but none of them have found the middle of the bat regularly in the fifth season.
The real strength of the Super Kings has been their all-rounders, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RA-Jadeja-c2238. If Chennai has any chance of winning the illustrious league for the third time in a row, the all-rounders must keep performing to the best of
their abilities.
Former New Zealand captain and coach of Chennai, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Stephen-Paul-Fleming-c91190 knows that his team must get its act together in all departments of the game.
"We're just not getting enough runs and defending well enough. He [MS Dhoni, the captain] needs to be supported in the field. We must reassess which bowlers we need and hope our batsmen score more. Things must improve quickly," said Fleming.
Delhi, which finished at the top of the points table, looks to be in great form and some of its players, like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/M-Morkel-c73528 have been outstanding in the tournament so far.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/LRPL-Taylor-c1849 was out of form for most part of the tournament but the right-handed middle-order batsman found back his touch in the previous game he played against Royal Challengers Bangalore, scoring a blistering half-century.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Delhi-c780 feels that Taylor's return to form is great news for the Daredevils as they move into the deciding phase.
The former Sri Lankan captain said, "Ross getting back to form is good for us ahead of the play-offs. It's a small ground and our bowling options were limited. Maybe we could have executed some of our plans better. We have been doing
very well through the tournament and we want to continue the momentum in the coming matches."
Delhi has the strongest batting unit among the teams in the play-offs and even though Morkel, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Varun-Aaron-c2744 form a strong bowling attack, the Daredevils would still depend on their high-profile batsmen to see them through to the title.
To be continued...
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