Clash of titans at Eden (Preview)

Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni were the heroes of India’s victory in the 2011 WC final but on Saturday they will go head to head in a marquee clash of the IPL-4. The Eden Gardens would see a match between two teams who have done very well so far in the tournament.

The home team after a brief stay at the top of league standings is now stationed just behind Mumbai. The loss in the previous match against “giant-killers” Kochi cost them the top spot. The way the team has performed till now has to be acknowledged, the big names in the batting like Jacque Kallis and captain Gambhir have been among the runs, the finishers- Eoin Morgan and Yusuf Pathan have also put in some match-winning efforts. The bowling, spearheaded by Brett Lee hasn’t conceded too many runs either. Youngster Iqbal Abdulla has been a revelation for the team, taking wickets when the needed most.

The loss in the last match, however has taken a bit of momentum away from the team. The punishment Lee got in the last match wasn’t a usual site and the tear-away would be looking to make amends against Chennai. Another man in the same boat would be captain Gambhir, who got out without troubling the scorers.

With the top two positions so important, third placed Chennai may even finish at the top if they pull off a big win at the Eden gardens. Bowling and fielding have always been Chennai’s strength but they would be buoyed by the batting performance in their last encounter against a confident Rajasthan.

The visitors have a pack of frugal bowlers who give away absolutely nothing, so chasing against them has been difficult. No matter how many runs they get, the team batting second has had to play out of their skins to win it. Dough Bollinger, Shadab Jakati and R Ashwin have made life difficult for batsmen on spin friendly tracks.

Michael Hussey and Suresh Raina have held the batting together, Albie Morkel ensures the innings have a explosive finish. However, ‘captain cool’ Dhoni has hit 20’s and 30’s but nothing special has come from his bat so far.

Kolkata have the home advantage in this match but Chennai have the bowling to exploit the conditions as the pitch has more often than not aided spin. After the match, whoever emerges the winner will be nearer to a top-two spot than the rest of the pack.

KOLKATA

Players who can make impact…

Eoin Morgan….The left hander who originally hails from Ireland has the most innovative style of batting. He can improvise at any stage hitting all the modern shots. He is effective against the spinners with the sweeps-paddle, lap and the latest dink sweep.

Brett Lee…..He came in for some stick from fellow Australian Brad Hodge but the champion bowler he is, in all certainty will bounce back. Another Aussie Hussey would be the target for sure.

SQUAD

Brett Lee, Eoin Morgan, Gautam Gambhir(c), Iqbal Abdulla, Jacques Kallis, Jaidev Unadkat, James Pattinson, Laxmipathy Balaji, Laxmi Shukla, Mark Boucher (wk), Manoj Tiwary, Manvinder Bisla, Pradeep Sangwan, Rajat Bhatia, Ryan ten Doeschate, Saqibul Hassan, Sarabjit Ladda, Shami Ahmed, Shreevats Goswami (wk),Yusuf Pathan.

CHENNAI

Players who can make impact…

MS Dhoni….He captaincy has been superb so far in the tournament but the batting has taken a little bit of dip. What better chance to play a match-winning innings at the most famous Indian ground, Eden Gardens.

Michael Hussey…..It would be interesting to see how he faces the pace and swing of Brett Lee. His ability to shift gears in no time make him such a dangerous customer in this format. It doesn’t matter whether the team bats first or second, as long as Hussey is there Chennai is always in the contest.

SQUAD

Abhinav Mukund, Albie Morkel, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Ganapathi Vignesh, George Bailey, Joginder Sharma, K Vasudevadas, Michael Hussey, MS Dhoni (c)(wk), Murali Vijay, Nuwan Kulasekara, R Ashwin, S Badrinath, Scott Styris, Shadab Jakati ,Srikkanth Anirudha, Sudeep Tyagi, Suraj Randiv, Suresh Raina, Tim Southee, Wriddhiman Saha,Yo Mahesh