Kolkata http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Knight-c71599 Riders v Pune Warriors: Match Preview
Pune Warriors are scheduled to take on Kolkata Knight Riders in their last game of the IPL, at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820, on Thursday, May 19.
After this game, Pune will quit the tournament race as they do not have enough points to qualify for play-offs.
Kolkata, which is ranked 4th on the points table with 14 points, will fight to get two more points as its position is challenged by Kings XI http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Punjab-c833 who are ranked 5th and have one game left in the first round.
However, Kolkata too has one more game to play after this but it cannot afford the risk of losing to Pune.
On the other side, the Pune skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Yuvraj-Singh-c98364, says that they will play the game for their pride and win at every cost.
Leaders in light
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gautam-Gambhir-c58623: The Indian top-order batsman is leading KKR. He seems to be in good form in this tournament and was excellent during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. He leads the side in a meticulous way and is quick to make the right decisions.
Along with shouldering the leadership responsibilities in a nice way, he is delivering well with the bat.
Yuvraj Singh: An aggressive but talented Indian all-rounder is piloting Pune. Despite the fact that he finished up the World Cup campaign as ‘Player of the Tournament’, he was not able to take his new team to the play-offs. However, he
has delivered well with the bat and ball and vowed to end the IPL race in a graceful way.
Team talk
Pune: A victory will not change their standing in the tournament at any cost.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mitchell-Marsh-c1974 has been impressive with the ball throughout the tournament while Wayne Parnell is marvellously leading the pace attack.
Rahul Sharma, with 16 wickets so far, has proved to be a game changing spinner for Pune.
The top batting order is somewhat strong with the presence of Jesse Ryder and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Manish-Pandey-c74183.
The Indian batting legend, Sourav Ganguly has joined the team to further strengthen the batting lineup. Anyhow, with no future prospects, the players will play with heavy hearts and shelled minds.
KKR: Their star-studded batting order is the biggest contributor in their victories.
Both the top and middle orders are strong and have the required firepower while http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lakshmipathy-Balaji-c72130 is stunning the KKR fans with his excellent bowling.
Yusuf Pathan has proved to be a match-winning all-rounder and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Iqbal-Abdulla-c1596 has been disturbing batsmen with his varied spin.
The pressure of a must-win game will hover over their heads.
Watch-out for
Jacques Kallis: An experienced South African batsman who possesses both consistency and skill. His contributions have been instrumental in KKR’s success in most of their games. Along with brash batting, he delivers destructive bowling too.
His 80 not out in last game speaks volumes about his abilities.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rahul-Sharma-c83352: With 16 wickets and an economy rate of 5.33, Sharma poses to be the highest wicket taker of his team and the 3rd highest overall. He is a talented spinner who is credited to have bowled out the Indian batting guru, Sachin Tendulkar.
Pitch condition:
The Dr DY Patil Sports Academy pitch is one the liveliest pitches of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 in order to ensure a bouncy track. The outfield is covered with sand-based grass. The temperature is likely to be 28 - 31°
C.
Last Word
The match will be an interesting and thrilling one as Pune will play without the pressure of winning while Kolkata has to play with a winning attitude. Both the teams have some world class cricketers and the clash is bound to be exciting. Let see which side
wins and which wanes.
Tags: