By Jamie Alter
Trying to attempt a recovery from bottom of the league table is a tough task in itself, but having to do so against the top-ranked side in the competition is another matter altogether. That is the challenge facing Kings XI Punjab as they take on Mumbai Indians in Mohali on Tuesday night.
Published: May 09, 2011, 05:50 PM (IST)
Edited: May 09, 2011, 05:50 PM (IST)
Kings XI Punjab will hope to put up a better show with the bat against Mumbai Indians. © AFP
By Jamie Alter
Mohali: May 9, 2011
Trying to attempt a recovery from bottom of the league table is a tough task in itself, but having to do so against the top-ranked side in the competition is another matter altogether. That is the challenge facing Kings XI Punjab as they take on Mumbai Indians in Mohali on Tuesday night.
Having slumped to rock bottom in the league table, there is not much hope for KXIP of making the final four. They have lost their last four matches to take their losing tally to six, which means they are virtually out of the tournament. They do have an extra match in hand, but will need to win all their matches to have a chance of staying alive.
In defeat, KXIP have been unable to restrict teams when bowling first and failed when having first use of the track. The last two matches in which they have bowled first, KXIP’s bowlers have given away over 200; when they have batted, the totals posted were a lowly 119 each time. Adam Gilchrist’s poor run of form (180 runs at 20.00 with one fifty and two zeros) has meant KXIP rarely managed to lay down platforms, while Paul Valtathy’s slump after a golden week earlier in the tournament has compounded their woes.
That has left Shaun Marsh to do the bulk of the scoring, and that he is the second highest run scorer for the team indicates just how well he has responded. Dinesh Karthik has been a complete flop, tallying 144 runs in nine innings; Abhishek Nayar has neither contributed runs nor wickets in eight opportunities; David Hussey has yet to do anything of note after four attempts; Sunny Singh has been mute. With the ball, Ryan Harris, Piyush Chawla and Praveen Kumar have done all the hard work. The support has not been forthcoming.
MI have been on song with excellent performances this season. They were outdone on just two occasions by brilliant individual performances – succumbing to Johan Botha on a slow turner in Jaipur and to Brendon McCullum’s whirlwind innings while defending 182 against Kochi Tuskers Kerala. Sachin Tendulkar and Ambati Rayudu have been magnificent at the top of the order while the bowlers have backed them up excellently and played a big part in MI’s success. Lasith Malinga has a record 24 wickets this season, and behind him Munaf Patel and Harbhajan Singh have been solid with 12 apiece.
In their final match at home, KXIP will need to play outstanding cricket to beat the best-oiled unit in the competition. The confidence from a win here could provide the fuel for a final push, but truthfully their chances of staging a dramatic comeback look bleak.
Teams:
KXIP (Probable): Adam Gilchrist (c&wk), Paul Valtathy, Shaun Marsh, Dinesh Karthik, Abhishek Nayar, David Hussey, Mandeep Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ryan Harris, Bharghav Batt, Shalabh Srivastava.
MI (Probable): Aiden Blizzard, Sachin Tendulkar (c), Ambati Rayudu (wk), Rohit Sharma, Andrew Symonds, Kieron Pollard, Tirumalasetti Suman, Harbhajan Singh, Dhawal Kulkarni, Lasith Malinga, Munaf Patel.
Time: 20.00 local (14.30 GMT)
(Jamie Alter is a freelance cricket writer, having worked at ESPNcricinfo and All Sports Magazine. He is the author of two books, The History of World Cup Cricket and Field of Dreams: The Story of the Dr. DY Patil Sports Stadium. His twitter feed is @jamie_alter)
