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Pre Match Analysis

KXIP takes on RCB on Friday

DURBAN, APRIL 30: Kings XI Punjab will take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Durban on Friday in their second match in three days. After a high-tension win over the Mumbai Indians on Wednesday, the KXIP team had a light net session on Thursday. With three wins on trot, KXIP start favourites for the first time this season.

RCB has had a tough time of it so far having lost 4 of their 6 matches after a rousing start. That they won their last game against the only team below them in the points standings is some consolation, but with Kevin Pietersen now out of the equation, there will be some restructuring to be done for RCB. For one, there is the issue of a new captain taking over. Most likely, it will be Jacques Kallis, but the bigger problem is the batting in general.

For KXIP, the departure of Ravi Bopara for England duty will be a big blow but there are replacements in the wings with Simon Katich and Luke Pommersbach fighting for the vacated spot. With three hard-fought wins under their belt, the bowling for KXIP is looking settled.

“Ravi’s departure is obviously a big blow, but we have some capable players in the wings who can fill that spot. We will look to continue the momentum,” said KXIP coach Tom Moody.

KXIP’s current streak of 3 wins started last week with a win over RCB. Possibly the easiest of their 3 wins so far, the team is still not taking this game lightly. “We had a good win over Mumbai Indians but there are still some things we could have done better and will look to working on,” said Kumar Sangakkara who was man of the match in the last two matches for KXIP.

There is also the option for KXIP to promote Mahela Jayawardene to the opener’s spot and have Luke Pommersbach in the middle order. That, however, will depend on the pitch and the conditions.

Durban has been enjoying some warm sunny days over the past week, but there was a slight cloud cover on Thursday. Both teams must be hoping that the rain stays away since there is much to gain from a win.

A win for KXIP will move them up to joint first place with Deccan Chargers and Delhi Daredevils while a win for RCB will propel them to joint second with KXIP. Although the odds are in favour of KXIP, this will be another close encounter.

Post Match Analysis

KXIP falters in chase

DURBAN, MAY 1: The Kings XI Pubjab juggernaut was abruptly halted on Friday when the Royal Challengers Bangalore beat them by 8 runs in an exhilarating chase.

Batting first after winning the toss, RCB got off to the worst possible start losing Jesse Ryder for just 2. Almost a sign of things to come, RCB never managed to get together a significant partnership losing key wickets at regular intervals. The wrecker-in-chief in the early part of the match for KXIP was once again the left-arm seam duo of Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Abdulla.

Just when RCB seemed to be putting together a partnership thanks to Robin Uthappa (19) and Jacques Kallis (27), Yuvraj Singh struck. Thrice. Off successive deliveries to register the first hat-trick of this year’s IPL. Yuvraj had Robin Uthappa caught by Simon Katich at square leg and followed it up with a splendid quicker one that castled Jacques Kallis off the last ball of the over. The first ball of his next over was the hat-trick ball and he had Mark Boucher trapped in front to not only register the hat-trick but break the back of the RCB batting.

At 6/86, all seemed lost for RCB, but a thrilling cameo by Roelof van der Merwe (35 off 19 balls) saw RCB register a respectable 145 for 7 off their 20 overs. Although a few more than KXIP would have liked, the target was still a gettable one. For KXIP, Yusuf Abdulla picked up 4 wickets and almost had a fifth but for Piyush Chawla’s dropped chance off the last ball of the innings.

KXIP’s chase began quietly but with Yuvraj Singh having promoted himself to open the innings, it couldn’t have stayed that way for long. And it didn’t! Yuvraj soon exploded into action and went on to score 50 off just 33 balls. He fell in the 10th over after an opening partnership of 70 with Karan Goel (20). KXIP needed just 75 off the last 10 overs for their fourth successive win, but RCB hit back after the strategy break.

Simon Katich (3), replacing Ravi Bopara, was the next batsman and he was unfortunately run out after a misunderstanding with Kumar Sangakkara (17). Mahela Jayawardene (19) offered some resistance but could not stay long enough. The situation had turned and KXIP was chasing 44 off the last four overs. Irfan Pathan (12) hit a couple of lusty blows, but a miserly 19th over by Anil Kumble off which only 4 runs were scored left KXIP needing 13 off the last over. With Pathan and Piyush Chawla (3) falling off successive balls, there was too much to do off the last ball and KXIP fell short.

Coach Tom Moody was obviously disappointed with the outcome. “End of the day, Bangalore didn’t win the game, but we lost it,” he said. “We failed to add the finishing touches in the second half of our batting… we were in a position to win it,” he added. With a change in personnel necessitated, there was also a change in the batting order, but Moody didn’t feel that was the cause of the loss. “When you have three international players of high quality, you are not weakening the batting order. We shuffled it purely to suit the conditions and the move to promote Yuvraj was smart and it came off,” he said.

Yusuf Abdulla, now the top wicket-taker in the tournament and holder of the purple cap was also disappointed despite another 4-wicket haul. “It’s disappointing. We should have won,” he said. Abdulla is obviously excited about the purple cap, but said that he wasn’t thinking about it too much. Focusing on the outcome of the game, he said, “We could have restricted them but we gave away a few more runs. With the bat as well, we had a great start, but couldn’t continue on it,” he added.

With this loss, KXIP is now fourth in the points table. They now play the Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday in Port Elizabeth.