Friday, May 30, 2008

Second Semifinal - King's X1 Punjab v Chennai Superkings - Preview

Today it is. Do or die day. No more second chances, no more bothering about tables and run-rates and the like. On the opposite side is our favorite opponent - King's X1 Punjab - a team that we like to beat and hold some grudge against. Also a team that is on the up, and supremely confident, a bit too confident if you like. At stake, is a chance to contest in the finals of the inaugural DLF IPL Final !

Favorites ?
What a question !

League Record: 2-0 in favor of Super Kings
In the first game, we totally annihilated them - but those were different days as we had Mike Hussey with us. But more encouragingly we had a very good win in the return game also, despite Shaun Marsh batting well. It seemed Dhoni Raina and Badrinath relished taking on the all Indian bowling attack and then Balaji sealed it off with a super-spell !

Teams
Punjab
Strengths - Shaun Marsh, Sangakarra
Weaknesses - Yuvraj, dicey lower-middle order, part of the bowling can be tonked around

Chennai
Strengths - Key players are beginning to show form (Raina, Morkel, Dhoni, Gony, Murali)
Weaknesses - Opening combination, Backup bowling, below par performances by Ntini and Murali

Royal Contests
Marsh v Gony
Sangakarra v Murali
Raina v Chawla
Dhoni v Irfan

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