Leaders Kolkata take on unpredictable Kochi (Preview)

With each match Kolkata are improving by leaps and bounds, where as Kochi are battling some inconsistent form winning an odd game here and there but losing crucial ones. Kochi go into tomorrow’s match at the Nehru Stadium with a confidence boosting win against Delhi under their belt. But, their over-all record of only four wins in nine matches is not awe-inspiring and they find themselves stationed in the middle of the points chart.

With the tournament past its half-way stage and the teams jostling to find a spot in the top four, the race is becoming as fascinating as the game itself. Kochi will have to win most of the matches they play from now onwards to have any chance of reaching the next stage. Hence, in this encounter against one of the formidable sides of IPL-4 Kolkata the home side will have to bring out their best to secure a win.

Kochi batting has been very unpredictable so far; when people expect them to do well the plot has gone horribly wrong and when they have been written off, they rise from the ashes. In the last match, they played like champions-first restricting Delhi to 140 and then chased down that target without any stutters and five overs to spare. Their bowling also came good with debutant Prasanth Parameswaran and pacer Vinay Kumar bowling impressive spells.

Kolkata, a side that failed to achieve anything substantial in the previous editions of IPL, has literally swept people off their feet with single minded devotion to win each time they go out on the field. And, here they are at the top of the league standings. Given the way they are playing, Kolkata have shown killer instinct both with the bat and ball.

Gautam Gambhir, Jacques Kallis and Eoin Morgan provide the stability at the top, and the likes of Yusuf Pathan and Manoj Tiwary have done their job as power hitters with aplomb. The fact that the last two games were won due to the heroics of Tiwary and Pathan proves that their batting lineup has some quality finishers. The inclusion of mark Boucher in the team has made the visitors’ lower order even more dangerous.

As often happens, the batsmen’s success is giving confidence to the bowlers. Young Iqbal Abdulla has been brilliant during the middle overs, taking crucial wickets and conceding runs at an acceptable rate. Brett Lee and Laxmipathy Balaji have been effective with the ball.

This match is important for Kochi but Kolkata will like to carry on the winning momentum.

KOCHI

Players who can make impact…

Brendon McCullum…..His ability to destroy bowling attacks while batting at the top are well known. Once he gets going the team’s chances of securing a win increase manifold. His power hitting when the field restrictions are in place can take the game away from the opposition in a blink. Lee and company need to watch out.

Parthiv Patel….The former India international is a gritty batsman who can play the sheet anchor’s role effectively. He did the same for his previous franchise, Chennai for three seasons with remarkable success. And, he is only Indian batsman of some repute in the Kochi team.

SQUAD

B McCullum, Balachandra Akhil, Brad Hodge, Chandan Madan, Deepak Chougule, Gnaneswara Rao, John Hastings, Kedar Jadhav, M Jayawardene (c), Michael Klinger, Muttiah Muralitharan, Owais Shah, P Padmanabhan, Parthiv Patel (wk), Raiphi Gomez, Ramesh Powar, Ravindra Jadeja, RP Singh, S Sreesanth, Steve O'Keefe, Steven Smith, Sushant Marathe, Tanmay Srivastava, Thissara Perera, Vinay Kumar, VVS Laxman, Yashpal Singh.

KOLKATA

Players who can make impact…

Yusuf Pathan….Boundaries in this year’s IPL have been not very big but no boundary is long enough for this man. When Yusuf hits a ball, it stays hit. Since he comes in the middle order unlike most other batsmen of similar mould who come at the top when the field restrictions are in place, his role becomes all the more important.

Brett Lee…..He may have passed the ideal age for a tear away fast bowler but the way he runs in for every delivery and his energetic fielding lifts the whole bunch of youngsters in the team. Not to forget that he still retains searing pace and a perfect yorker.

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.