Watch IPL Videos
Their campaign in doldrums, Knight Riders would be desperate to register a victory over a consistent Royals.
Midway into the extravagant T20 League, when faltering teams like Delhi Daredevils have started to get their act together, the Knight Riders have refused to learn from the mistakes, with captain Gautam Gambhir being adamant in his approach.
The latest of their seven losses was against the resurgent Daredevils who registered their second successive win, third overall, by seven wickets on Wednesday at Raipur.
It was Knight Riders' fifth defeat from as many away games. They now have an uphill task of winning six more matches if they want to earn a ticket to the playoffs.
That they have three away games, including one in Mumbai, and two 'home' games (vs RCB and PWI) at an unfamiliar venue -- Ranchi -- will make the case all the more difficult, and it will be a real test of character for skipper Gambhir.
On the other hand, Rahul Dravid has led the side by example so far and backed his little-known judicious-spending team to perfection, reminding one of what Shane Warne did in their triumphant season one (2008).
Rajasthan's back-to-back victories have earned them 12 points from nine matches and they are comfortably placed at third position in the table.
Shane Watson's red-hot form with the bat -- 101, unbeaten 98 and 41 in last three appearances -- is just coming at the right time. The Aussie vice-captain's contribution with the ball is also providing the team an edge.
They also have big hitters in Brad Hodge and Owais Shah, while talented batsman Ajinkya Rahane will be hoping to get back to his rhythm.
The fact that Dravid-led team had a three-day break after their victory against RCB will put them in the right frame of mind as compared to KKR, who travelled to Chennai and Raipur before coming here.
Teams:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (Capt.), Manvinder Bisla (wk), Yusuf Pathan, Jacques Kallis, Eoin Morgan, Debabrata Das, Rajat Bhatia, Sumit Narwal, Sunil Narine, Iqbal Abdulla, Sachithra Senanayake.
Rajasthan Royals: Rahul Dravid (Capt.), Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Owais Shah, James Faulkner, Siddharth Trivedi, Brad Hogg, Ankit Chavan, Dishant Yagnik (wk).
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Royals elect to bat against Knight Riders
Dengan url
http://bijikacang.blogspot.com/2013/05/royals-elect-to-bat-against-knight.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Royals elect to bat against Knight Riders
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Royals elect to bat against Knight Riders
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar