Kings XI Punjab v Deccan Chargers – Players Comparison: Do or die game for Punjab – Part One
Kings XI Punjab will take on Deccan Chargers in an extremely crucial encounter of the fourth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at Dharamsala on Saturday.
Adam Gilchrist’s men are currently at the fifth spot in the points table with 14 points after 13 matches, whereas Deccan are reeling at the eighth position as they have only 10 points from 13 outings.
Punjab’s hopes of qualifying for the next round will depend on this fixture as it is absolutely imperative for them to beat the Chargers with a comprehensive margin in order to increase their net run-rate as well.
Chargers on the other hand have nothing to loose as they are already out of the competition but they will be playing for pride and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KC-Sangakkara-c1779 and his men will be devising a strategy to spoil Punjab’s party.
Kings XI’s confidence will be sky high as they defeated the Royal Challengers Bangalore yesterday in an emphatic style and they have surely emerged as the underdogs of the tournament. Bangalore is considered as the hot-favourites of the current season and
for Punjab to beat them by a margin of 111 runs in definitely no mean achievement.
If we have a close look at the batting of the two sides, Punjab surely have an advantage in this department as they have some explosive strikers of the cricket ball at the top of the order in shape of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Paul-Valthaty-c2170 and Shaun Marsh.
Gilchrist’s ton against Royal Challengers the other day is the best thing that could have happened to Punjab. Former http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 wicketkeeper/batsman is considered as one of the most fierce-full hitters of the history of the game but he was not in good touch
earlier in the tournament.
However, Punjab’s skipper found his way back to form with splendid 106 runs which came off only 55 deliveries with the help of eight boundaries and nine massive hits out of the park.
Captain along with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SE-Marsh-c2470 scored a mammoth 206 runs for the second wicket partnership, which is a record for any wicket in the history of IPL. Such an extra-ordinary performance by the Kings XI must have given a boost to their morale which could turn
out to be the difference between Deccan and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Punjab-c833 on Saturday.
Gilchrist admitted after the match against Bangalore that he was badly out of form and his knock against the Royal Challengers has come as a surprise. He rated that victory very important for his team’s cause and wants to carry on with the same momentum
in the last league match against Deccan.
He said, "A pretty important win for us, it will boost our run-rate and we may need that to come into the equation. It's a bit of a surprise to be honest [the knock], but you need to keep trusting yourself.”
To be continued in part two …
Tags: