Revenge match for Kings XI Punjab
9th May 2008 23:02 IST Agencies
Mahendra Singh Dhoni would also be looking at the semifinal spot and would not hesitate in pushing teammates for their second victory over the Punjab team.
Dhoni had looked in a good touch in the tournament as he has scored 229 runs from eight matches with a strike rate of 145.45.
Besides Dhoni, local lads Subramaniam Badrinath and Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan have been among runs and young guns would again need to show maturity to help their team's cause.
However, form of former New Zealand Captain Stephen Fleming is a worrying factor for the hosts as he has not performed well in the last three encounter.
The run-rate of Dhoni's team had seen a slide after the departure of big hitting players and the skipper would hope his batting line-up would fire and bowlers would perform to rein in the opponent batsmen.
With Lakshmipathy Balaji getting in to the groove, he along with Manpreet Gony would have to share the burden of taking wickets.
The pitch has so far behaved well in the previous four matches here and proved to be batsmen friendly, the match on Saturday is likely to be an even contest. |