Kings XI Punjab face tough home test against Knight Riders

Having notched up their first victory against Pune Supergiants, an upbeat Kings XI Punjab face the all-round might of two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders in an Indian Premier League cricket tournament encounter, here tomorrow.

While KKR have four points from three games with two wins under their belt, Kings XI opened their account with a six-wicket win against Pune yesterday.

On paper, KKR are overwhelming favourites against Punjab with a more balanced outfit but reputations count for little in the shortest format as most of the contests are won on the day.

Expect an interesting battle between KKR’s much vaunted batting line-up against KXIP’s bowling which has looked disciplined during their last match against Pune on a two-paced wicket.

So there could be some intriguing smaller battle within the battles. How Gambhir tackles Mohit Sharma’s slower deliveries or how Sandeep Sharma can stop Andre Russell from hitting those towering sixes.

It will also be a challenge for KXIP spinners like Axar Patel as KKR is one side which has quality batsmen against slow bowlers.

For Knight Riders, the best part about their journey since Gambhir taking over in 2011 is the amount of consistency that they have shown over the years.

Not only have they won the title twice in 2012 and 2014 but more importantly have stuck with their core group of players in thick and thin during these years.

Skipper Gambhir, opener Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine have all settled down in their respective roles in the past few years giving them a dangerous look despite the absence of a huge star in the ranks of a Kohli, Dhoni or AB de Villiers.

They have been more or less clinical in their two wins against Daredevils at home and Sunrisers in an away game. The loss against Mumbai Indians could be attributed more to Rohit Sharma’s individual brilliance backed up nicely by Jos Buttler’s pyrotechnics.

The best part about KKR’s campaign so far has been Gambhir’s form as he is on top of the run-getters’ table with 192 runs at a healthy strike-rate of 125.49. He has been playing the role of sheet anchor to perfection as has forged a good opening partnership with Robin Uthappa.

Uthappa’s 81 runs in three matches may not look big in terms of volume but in both the wins, his contributions have been 35 and 38.

While it may not actually be a cause of worry, the nine-wicket win against Daredevils and eight-wicket win against Sunrisers but KKR’s middle-order has not been put to test during the three matches that they have played.