IPL teams battle in crucial game (Preview)

One department failing to back up the other has proved out to be a perennial problem for Kolkata Knight Riders, over the years. And, the scene hasn’t been any different in the ongoing champions League. In both their defeats, bowling department has let them down, and, the Gautam Gambhir-led side could well find themselves out of the semi-final reckoning if the result of Thursday game against Bangalore doesn’t go their way.

The IPL runners-up, Bangalore didn’t start the tournament all that well losing to warriors in a close game. Like their opponents Bangalore are heavily loaded with match winners in the batting unit but light on the bowling front more so in Zaheer Khan’s absence.

With Bangalore again expected to offer a belter of a wicket, another tough outing for bowlers is on cards. For Bangalore, first game played at the same venue was lost due to bowlers failing to defend a score in excess of 170 against Warriors.

Despite losing South African AB de Villiers, who broke his finger on the left hand during the practice on Wednesday, the home team still is packed with fearsome batters: none as dangerous as Chris Gayle. The West Indies discard entertained the crowd in the first game but only for a brief, though. His longer tenure at the crease gives psychological edge to Bangalore and nightmare to the opponents. To complement Gayle tornado, Bangalore have class of Virat Kohli and an equally destructive De Villiers’ replacement TM Dilshan. Young Saurabh Tiwary provides punch to the late order to make Bangalore one terrific lineup.

One struggles to find star names in the bowling unit though. Save for skipper Daniel Vettori, a class operator with left arm spin, much can’t be said of others. Dirk Nannes hasn’t stepped up to the plate as the leader of the pack, local recruits Abhimanyu Mithun and Sreenath Aravind have gone for plenty to make life difficult for Vettori and team management.

Kolkata first match saw them not been able to defend 165 in the first match and conceding 188 in the second to lose the game by 25. In both the games, fielding as well as bowling has been below par and even their spearhead Brett Lee hasn’t been able to stop opposition batters.

The Aussie pacer needs to redeem himself in the crunch game and also egg up others to follow the suit. If Kolkata want to control the game early, Lee needs to attack Gayle upfront.

Jacques Kallis seems to be enjoying his role as an opener scoring big at a good clip too. Ryan ten Doeschate has been a revelation in the middle order and with others struggling to put substantial scores there is a definite case of the Dutch being promoted to number three.

Yusuf Pathan is running hot and cold with the bat. The big all-rounder needs to put big scores consistently. His skipper Gambhir is yet to come to grips to the top cricket after missing the game due to neck injury. The left hander needs runs to bring some confidence to the overall setup.

For Gambhir’s boys to get off the mark in the main draw or keep their semi-final hopes alive, they need to pull up their socks and come up with a better show in all three departments of the game.

Having home advantage and many players who can change course of any game on its head, Bangalore should start as overwhelming favorites for the big match.

Bangalore Squad: Daniel Vettori (c), Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammad Kaif, Saurabh Tiwary, Sreenath Aravind, J Syed Mohammad, Arun Karthik, Asad Pathan, Abhimanyu Mithun, Dirk Nannes, Raju Bhatkal.

Kolkata Squad: Brad Haddin (wk), Brett Lee, Iqbal Abdulla, Jacques Kallis (c), Jaidev Unadkat, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Manoj Tiwary, Manvinder Bisla (wk), Rajat Bhatia, Ryan ten Doeschate, Shakib al Hasan, Shami Ahmed, Shreevats Goswami, Yusuf Pathan.