Pune Warriors v Kochi Tuskers Kerala: IPL 4 – Match Preview
The Pune Warriors and the Kochi Tuskers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820.
Yuvraj Singh, the Pune Warriors’ skipper would be confident after his team won their first match against the Kings XI Punjab on 10th April, 2011, by a comfortable margin of seven wickets.
Mahela Jayawardene, the Tuskers’ captain, too has a good side at his disposal, but unfortunately, it was insufficient to defeat the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their first match that took place on 9th April.
Both captains have been pleased with the performances of their respective teams. The Kochi Tuskers put up a good show against a strong Bangalore side, whereas the Pune Warriors hardly broke a sweat as they defeated Kings XI Punjab.
Jayawardene boasts quite a formidable batting line-up, with Brendon McCullum, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Brad-Hodge-c1184 as some of the more experienced players in the team.
In Kochi’s first match, Brendon blazed his way towards his 45 runs off 32 balls with four fours and two sixes; Laxman contributed to the partnership with 36 runs, including two fours and two sixes. Brad managed to perform adequately with the bat as well;
he scored 27 runs off 21 balls, hitting three fours.
Kochi also has a competitive bowling line-up in the form of Muralitharan, Sreesanth, and RP Singh. However, the bowlers were unable to do much damage to the Bangalore side with only one bowler having an economy rate under 7.00.
Pune Warriors on the other hand, faced a one-sided competition against the Kings XI http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shrikant-Wagh-c2521 took 5 wickets
between themselves, while the lowest economy rate in Pune’s bowling attack was Ryder’s at 3.00.
The Pune batsmen made short work of a small total, Graeme Smith was a disappointment, getting out on a duck, but the rest played well, and Pune managed to chase the 113 runs target with 6 overs to spare.
Jayawardene will be looking to limit the Pune batsmen with experienced bowlers in his side, while Yuvraj will be banking on his pacers to dismantle the Kochi top-order like they did with Kings XI Punjab.
As Pune's new captain, Yuvraj Singh will be aiming to capitalise on this fresh start that he has been given by leading his team far in the tournament, especially given his prolific performance in the recent World Cup.
Jayawardene on the other hand, will be looking to get back in the game after their initial defeat. The Kochi team is new and strong. They certainly have the names to make it far, but in the end it is the performance that counts.
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