On a roll Bangalore take on giant-killers Kochi (Preview)

What a turnaround it has been for Bangalore. Their campaign in IPL-4 was plummeting as quickly as Titanic sank in Atlantic Ocean. But, then came along Chris Gayle, a highly talented man with a poor IPL record. He announced himself in a grand manner at Eden Gardens, his former home ground. His century ensured a confident Kolkata were beaten by a very comprehensive margin. And, that knock really plugged the holes in the sinking Bangalore boat.

Four back to back wins and Gayle has muscled his way to one more match-winning century, this time the victims were Punjab. Gayle innings so far have been exhibition of clean and ruthless hitting. If Gayle fires once again, Kochi should not be disappointed but consider themselves unlucky because there are some things you just can’t control and the West Indian is one of them. He is the only batter with two centuries in the same IPL and can surely make it three but Kochi fans would be desperately praying for an early Gayle dismissal.

Gayle has been such a phenomenon in the tournament that players like Tillakaratne Dilshan, Virat Kohli and Daniel Vettori have gone unnoticed. Youngster Kohli in particular has been very impressive often playing second fiddle to a bludgeoning Chris Gayle. The Bangalore batting is strong and long with AB de Villiers playing in the middle Order. The Bangalore bowling has been doing well with the showman Gayle picking up three scalps in the last match. Vettori’s variation is very effective and can stifle even the best of batting line-ups.

For Kochi, the match is very important. A win here and they would knocking at the door for a spot in the top four and a loss would set them back, then they would have to win all their remaining matches to qualify for the next stage. Their first and foremost priority would be to see the back of Chris Gayle as soon as possible. They would surely have a plan or two for the left hander but as teams all around the world know, Gayle can wreak havoc not just with the bowling abilities but mental faculties also stop function when he is on song.

One thing that is in Kochi’s favour is their track-record; they have been the giant-killers of this year’s IPL having defeated top line teams like Mumbai and Kolkata. They have done well when very few people gave them a chance. So they would try to like to live up to that tag and create an upset of starts. The win against Kolkata in the last match would have been a confidence booster, nevertheless.

BANGALORE

Players who can make impact…

Chris Gayle….What can be said about this man who has provided shock therapy to the best of bowlers. Two centuries in four matches and mind you, we are talking about 20 over cricket. Kochi’s bowlers have their job cut out in this match.

Virat Kohli….He may not be as flashy as a Chris Gayle but his style of batting has its own entertainment value. Classic drives, punches on the up and the back-foot flicks make him an attraction for young and old alike.

SQUAD

AB de Villiers, Abhimanyu Mithun,Abrar Kazi,Arun Karthik,Asad Pathan,BN Barath,Charl Langeveldt,Cheteshwar Pujara, Daniel Vettori (c),Dirk Nannes,Johan van der Wath, Jonathan Vandiar,Luke Pomersbach,Mayank Agarwal,Mohammad Kaif,Muralidharen Gautam,Nuwan Pradeep,Raju Bhatkal,Rilee Rossouw,Ryan Ninan,Saurabh Tiwary, Sreenath Aravind, Tillakaratne Dilshan,Virat Kohli, Zaheer Khan.

KOCHI

Players who can make impact…

Brendon McCullum…..The way Gayle hurricane has been blowing in the recent past, the big hitting New Zealand batsman should be an ideal opener for Kochi. He can score very briskly and if he survives for some overs his team can hope for a big total on the board.

RP Singh….First and foremost, he is a swing bowler who always looks to pick up wickets. Gayle being a left hander, RP would fancy bowling first up to him and do his team a favour by removing him early.

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.