This is the battle of the new boys in the fourth season of the Indian Premier League, and both Pune Warriors India and Kochi Tuskers Kerala will go all out to have the first bragging rights against each other.
Pune Warriors had a memorable IPL debut as they thumped Kings XI Punjab by seven wickets with plenty of overs to spare chasing a paltry 113 thanks to their bowlers, who had at one stage reduced Adam Gilchrist’s team to 9 for 4 in the fourth over. The Warriors were hardly tested in their first match, and though they lost Ashish Nehra and Angelo Mathews to injuries before the tournament, the Yuvraj Singh-led team is high on confidence. Their young left-arm pacer Shrikant Wagh was Man of the Match against KXIP and would look to produce another good spell against the Tuskers.
Brendon McCullum and VVS Laxman got the Tuskers’ maiden IPL innings off to a flier as the opening pair put on a 80-run partnership in nine overs against Royal Challengers Bangalore, but their innings lost momentum in the latter half as they set Daniel Vettori’s team a target of 162. The Tuskers were in control of the match despite AB de Villiers doing his best to keep RCB in the match. The decisive moment in the match came in the 18th over of RCB’s innings with the visitors still needing 33 runs to win; but in a strange decision Tuskers’ skipper Mahela Jayawardene tossed the ball to RV Gomez and that over cost 20 runs and took the match away from the home team as de Villiers denied Kochi a win on debut.
Jayawardene said after the match that nerves cost the Tuskers the game; but in hindsight it was obvious he didn’t know who his go-to local bowlers were apart from RP Singh, Sreesanth and Vinay Kumar. On the other hand, Yuvraj appears to have an understanding of his players’ capabilities, and this could just tilt the match in the Warriors’ favour.
Mini-battles:
Sreesanth vs Jesse Ryder: The in-form Kiwi batsman will be tasked with getting the Warriors off to a good start, but Kerala lad Sreesanth would want to bounce back from a disappointing outing against the RCB and there would be no better start for him than to get rid of Ryder at the earliest.
Yuvraj Singh vs Muttiah Muralitharan: The Warriors’ skipper is in sublime form and though he played a cameo knock to take his team over the line against KXIP, Yuvraj will have a tough test on his hands should he come up against spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan.
Alfonso Thomas vs Brendon McCullum: Thomas is one of the best bowlers in Twenty20 cricket, and he will have to continue from where he left off against KXIP and get rid off McCullum in his first couple of overs. If McCullum gets his eye in, the Warriors’ fielders are bound to be sent on a leather hunt.
Quotes:
Pune Warriors’ pacers Shrikant Wagh: “I am really sad that Ashish bhaiya (Nehra) will not be playing. As a left-arm seamer, it would have been nice to get a few tips from one of the best left-arm swing bowlers in our country. I am missing him.”
Kochi Tuskers’ captain Mahela Jayawardene after the loss to RCB: “I think each game we will analyse it and see how we can improve ourselves and that is the challenge we have got. We have got quite good young players and at the same time some experienced guys who will put everything together and see what the best formula is going to be.”
Strengths:
Pune Warriors: A strong batting line-up led by Ryder, Robin Uthappa and Yuvraj, who also impressed with his captaincy against RCB. Thomas and Wagh impressed as a new ball pair and this bodes well for the Warriors.
Kochi Tuskers: Brendon McCullum at the top of the order can destroy any bowling attack and with the experienced trio of Laxman, Jayawardene and Brad Hodge in the middle-order, the Tuskers look comfortable in the batting department. Murali can weave his magic any moment and is KTK’s trump card with the ball.
Weaknesses:
Pune Warriors: The awful form of Graeme Smith.
Kochi Tuskers: RP Singh and Sreesanth blow hot and cold with the ball; in the T20 format, this inconsistency can really hurt KTK.
Venue and Pitch:
The Dr DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai was officially inaugurated in March 2008 and has a capacity of 60,000. The stadium, which has one of the best facilities on offer in the country for players and spectators alike, was built at a cost of Rs one billion and was constructed by leading architect Hafeez Contractor. The floodlight towers are the tallest in India and the stadium is a sight to behold once the lights are on.
The pitch has traditionally been a bouncy and true track; and the ground has an excellent drainage system in place to minimise interruptions because of rain.
Weather:
The forecast for April 13, 2011 (match day) is a positive one as clear skies are expected through the day. The match is scheduled to start at 8pm IST and the forecasted temperatures will be in the range of 26 to 29 degrees when the match is on.
