By CricketCountry Staff
Rahul Dravid-led Rajasthan Royals beat Kings XI Punjab by 31 runs on Friday and the former India skipper would hope that his boys would come up with an equally good performance.
Published: Apr 08, 2012, 03:39 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 08, 2012, 03:39 PM (IST)
Kolkata Knight Riders too would be eager to put their humiliating eight-wicket defeat behind them when they face Rajasthan Royals © AFP
By CricketCountry Staff
Jaipur: Apr 8, 2012
Rahul Dravid-led Rajasthan Royals beat Kings XI Punjab by 31 runs on Friday and the former India skipper would hope that his boys would come up with an equally good performance.
Kolkata Knight Riders too would be eager to put their humiliating eight-wicket defeat behind them when they start in the day match tomorrow to be played in the scorching heat at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
The Royals were impressive against Kings XI and Kevon Cooper was the find of the match.
The little-known Caribbean cricketer impressed with his all-round capabilities by adding 11 runs off three balls and then bowling with guile to grab four for 26 apart from displaying his agility on the field.
The batting for the hosts looked solid with Rahul Dravid playing his role as a motivator and sheet anchor to help Ajinkya Rahane play a brisk 98 run innings.
Though the exuberant Ashok Menaria failed to read a wrong one from Piyush Chawla, other batsmen including, Brad Hodge, Owais Shah and Kevon Cooper, accelerated according to the need of the hour.
The bowling department too looked in good touch as they took advantage of the wicket. Cooper was especially outstanding as he learnt fast to mix his slower ones according to the pace of the wicket.
The 23-year-old lad from Trinidad has demonstrated that he is a quick learner and might be a vital cog in Rajasthan Royals’ campaign.
Amit Singh and Siddharth Trivedi have shouldered the responsibility of the pace unit in the first match and the hosts might also bring quickie Shaun Tait to spearhead the attack.
KKR, on the other hand, has a pretty balanced side which would really test the might of the Rajasthan Royals.
Teams:
Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Dravid (c), Johan Botha, Ashok Menaria, Brad Hodge, Aankit Chavan, Owais Shah, Sreevats Goswami (c), Kevon Cooper, Amit Singh, Siddharth Trivedi.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Brendon McCullum (wk), Jacques Kallis, Gautam Gambhir (c), Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Rajat Bhatia, Brett Lee, Iqbal Abdulla, Debrata Das, Sunil Narine.
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