Placed at the bottom of the group Deccan Chargers and Pune Warriors have no option but to try to win matches for pride. Tough task!! Ganguly’s absence has puzzled all, and he might help all solving the riddle today.
History
They will play first match against each other.
2011 Performance
Pune Warriors had a good start and lost momentum later with 5 losses on trot now. Both matches they won batting second, but lost third match in high scoring game when they had to defend. In the first match they defeated Kings XI by 7-wickets, while in 2nd match defeated Kochi Tuskers by 4-wickets. But, against Delhi Daredevils at home, their bowlers failed to defend the high total. Mumbai Indians forced them into submission with bowling. In the last match, the batsmen failed to chase a low total against CSK. In the back-to-back match against CSK, they failed to defend almost the same target. Against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the last match, except Yuvi, the bowlers and batsmen succumbed. Against Rajasthan Royals the batsmen failed to impress, and Warriors lost 6th game on a trot. Losing back-to-back matches against Mumbai Indians, they lost 7th game on a trot. Yuvraj’s Mohali helped them finally win another match against Kings XI.
Chargers were thrashed by their erstwhile opponent Rajasthan Royals in the first match. Kolkata Knight Riders also defeated them in a close contest. But, playing at home they registered first ever victory trouncing Royal Challengers Bangalore. But, Kings XI Punjab shattered the dream of getting away with home jinx for Chargers when ex-DC captain and biggest assaulter of the tournament Valthaty marooned DC with runs. In their last match, they defeated Daredevils easily. Expected to spoil Sachin’s birthday, Deccan Chargers succumbed to a shameful defeat against Mumbai Indians in their last match. Against Kochi in last match, one of the best IPL bowling performances by Ishant saw DC easily win in the low scoring match. In the last match they gifted the match to Chennai Super Kings, and strengthened the belief that DC is headed towards bottom. Against KKR, they failed to chase again, while Viru’s DD showed them how to make successful chase.
Player’s Performance
Pune Warrior’s player performance index is not so high-profile. Mithun has joined Yuvraj, Ryder, Manish Pandey and Uthappa in 100-plus club. Their bowlers are performing better earning 54 wickets in 10 matches, but batting is failing to back-up.
For Deccan, player’s performance index shows Sangakkara and bowlers shining. Sangakkara has crossed 200-barrier, while Chipli, Sohal, Dhawan, Chrisitan and Duminy have crossed 100-run mark. Still, DC batsmen have not showed the capability to reach 150-mark smoothly so often. Bowlers have performed better taking 52 wickets in 10 matches. Captaincy is their key problem. Sangakkara has failed to form the team bond. Probably that is costing DC the matches.
Who Will Win Today!
Winning matters to improve the position now. Both are tied at 6 points and have 4 more games to go, and both are out of the knockout race. Considering the last few matches, Pune Warriors appear better among these two teak teams of fourth edition.
Key Battles
Steyn/Ishant vs Ryder/Uthappa/Yuvraj
Considring the poor show by Warriors in batting, except Yuvraj, Ishant and Steyn may have a merry day. Yet, their second spell may see Yuvraj and that will be the most interesting contest of the day.
Sangakkara/Duminy vs PWI Bowling
Sangakkara can be termed as the most disappointing captain of IPL 2011. As a batsman also he is not consistent but is the highest scorer from DC. Duminy showed in the last match, although in defeat, how making him sit on bench was a mistake. But both of them may face a big task against Thomas and Rahul Sharma who are in excellent form.
DC Squad
Batsman: Kumar Sangakkara (Captain/Keeper), Jean-Paul Duminy, Michael Lumb, Kevin Pietersen, Anand Rajan, Kedar Devdhar, Shikhar Dhawan, Dwaraka Ravi Teja, Jaydev Shah, Arjun Yadav
Allrounder: Chris Lynn, Rusty Theron, Cameron White, Ashish Reddy
Bowlers: Dale Steyn, Daniel Christian, Ankit Sharma, Akash Bhandari, Bharat Chipli, Manpreet Gony, Harmeet Singh, Ishank Jaggi, Ishan Malhotra, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, Sunny Sohal
Pune Warrior Squad
Batsman: Yuvraj Singh (Captain), Mitchell Marsh, Callum Ferguson, Tim Paine (WK), Graeme Smith, Manish Pandey, Eklavya Dwivedi, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Harshad Khadiwale, Mohnish Mishra, Robin Uthappa (WK), Ganguly
Allrounder: Nathan McCullum, Angelo Mathews, Jesse Ryder, Mithun Manhas
Bowlers: Wayne Parnell, Jerome Taylor, Alfonso Thomas, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Kamran Khan, Murali Kartik, Ganesh Gaikwad, Harpreet Singh, Dheeraj Jadhav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shrikant Mundhe, Sachin Rana, Rahul Sharma, Shrikant Wagh
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