IPL 8 Match Preview: Pauper-Kings start second best
SRH (bt DD)
What went Right: The youngest team in the competition has finally figured out its playing XI in their last game. And to arrive at that clarity, they had to shallow their pride and disregard reputation or price tag before team selection. So the expensive but ineffective foreign pacers — Dale Steyn and Trent Boult — sat out, making way for the in-form Indian pacers. So Ishant Sharma had for company the Kumars — Bhuvneshwar and Praveen. This helped Hyderabad to play three overseas batsmen and the all-rounder Moses Henriques. After his 74 at No.3, Henriques became the long-lost missing piece of the jigsaw. Dhawan, Warner, Henriques, Morgan at the top and the Indians pacers as tail, Hyderabad seems to have cracked it.
What Went Wrong: Hyderabad now have a better idea about their playing XI but they are still unsure about their batting line-up and the bowling order. Some numbers didn’t add up in their last game against DD. Karn Sharma, at No.5, before Ravi Bopara, Naman Ojha and Parvez Rasool was puzzling.
Sending the wrong man in at the crucial stage resulted in SRH failing to push the pedal in the final overs and settling for a modest total. The other strategic fumble was bringing in Praveen late while defending the total. The sly UP swing bowler is always likely to get wickets with the new ball.
Next match coach Tom Moody should think of opening the attack with PK and bringing on Ishant Sharma as first change.
Kings XI (lost to KKR)
What went Wrong: A lot. But the middle overs were the biggest problem area. At one point, King’s XI had KKR on mat, reducing them for 83/4 in the 11th over. At that point, the target of 184 seemed too far. The Punjab team depended on spinner Axar Patel and medium pacer Anupreet Singh to choke KKR in the third quarter of the game. But like so many times before in this season, the left-arm spinner with a deadly armer and the pacer with a number of variations failed to deliver. KKR survived the crucial mid-overs and scrambled across the line.
What Went Right: It’s extremely tough to think of positives for a team on a losing streak that is lazily resting at the bottom of the table. Hmm … well Glenn Maxwell, if you insist. He hit 3 sixes, connected a few reverse shots and swaggered to 43. The team would have loved more runs from him but he continued to be the entertainer with a big fan following. This knock took KXIP past 180. Besides this, there was nothing worth writing about from Eden Gardens for the Punjab team.
Conclusion
On paper, SRH are odds on to win this one. They are a team peaking at the right time, while King’s XI is a unit of no-hopers who can’t put a step right. But since the Punjab team did score 180-plus in their last game, the contest between their top-order batsmen and the wily SRH new-ball attack will be interesting.
