KXIP Vs DD (2nd Leg) - Review

I was not able to post for the last couple of KXIP matches due to the fact that we were shifting the house here in Abu Dhabi and the Internet transfer was not yet done from the supplier's end. It is not yet done but I am squeezing in this post at my office because I don't want to lose more poits in the InterBlogagctic IPL battle.

It seems KXIP has chosen wrong time to peak into form. They are 99.9% out of reckoning for a semifinal spot and now the boys have started performing the way their supporters wanted them to perform from the initial stage.  

Gauti won the toss and elected to bat. Delhi were let down by their batsmen and ended up being bowled out for a meager 111 in 19.4 overs.

All the bowlers with the exception of Love Ablish (who by the way was playing in his first IPL game) bowled well. Special mentions to Piyush Chawla, Irfan Pathan and Yuvraj Singh. Chawla is finally showing the public why he is rated very highly by the selectors.

A target of 112 was never going to be a worry for KXIP with the in form Mahela Jayawardene at the top of the order. The target was achieved easily by the boys with 6 balls and 7 wickets to spare. All the batsmen contributed in the chase.

An unsettled batting and bowling line up has costed Punjab dearly in this season. Combined failures of star batsmen and bowlers didn't help their cause either. Some of the earlier matches which they could have easily won was lost due to reckless batting and sub-standard death over bowling.

Its nice to see the boys getting victorious in consecutive games that too against giants Mumbai and Delhi.

Keep going KXIP, just make a mess of other's plans.......

Next Match:- Vs Deccan Chargers on 16.04.2010 

KXIP Vs KKR (2nd Leg) - Review

A comprehensive win at last for the boys from Punjab...!!! This was an outstanding win for Punjab as they showed great character to overcome on-field and off-field issues to chase down a total of 200 with 10 balls and 8 wickets to spare.

After Gayle the hurricane blasted the Punjabi bowlers (again disappointing) to all parts of the field to score 88 from 42 balls Kolkata was happily placed at 200/3 at the innings break. Little did they knew about the intentions of Mahela Jayawardene as he walked out to open the innings with Bisla. If Gayle was brutal, Mahela was all class, he never played any rash strokes and with the company of Bisla, Sanga and Yuvi he helped Punjab to easily chase down a stiff target and Mahela notched up his classy hundred which was without doubt the innings of the tournament so far.

Punjab never allowed their run rate to drop under 10 at any stage of their chase and was never under any pressure from the Kolkata bowlers. Yuvraj also showed glimpses of his devastating best during his short stay at the crease.

Even with the win the problems with the bowling are far from being solved. Punjab still hasn't found a settled bowling combination which they have to do something about quickly. A semifinal birth hope is all but finished for the Zintans but their fans would dearly love the team to go out and win all their remaining games in the tournament.

Next match :- Vs Rajasthan Royals on 07.04.2010

KXIP Vs RCB (2nd Leg) - Review

So there you are, 7th loss in 8 matches. Another match that could have been won. But shoddy fielding and ridiculous death bowling by Brett Lee made sure that we will lose our 7th match quite comprehensively.

I don’t have much to write in favour of Punjab. Batting was OK, but when you know your bowlers are having a torrid time, no score under 200 was safe and it proved. Yuvraj, Sanga, Bopara all played good cameos. But what we really wanted was one man to go on and score a 70 or 80.

The bowlers started well, even though RCB had had wickets in hand the asking rate was always above 11 runs per over. Sreesanth dropped a dolly from Kohli. But the one which was more painful was the drop by Bopara of Pietersen the ball after Kohli got out.

Enter Brett Lee to bowl the 17th over when the equation read, ‘RCB requires 48 runs from 24 balls’ and facing Lee was Robin Uthappa who is at his brutal best in this IPL. 6 balls later the equation read, ‘RCB requires 23 runs from 18 balls’. I was devastated to say the least. The game was over for me. But I still waited for the game to finish officially so that I had the privilege to see Sanga dropping a catch and then kicking the ball for 4. I thought EPL is best for him, not IPL.

I understand the logic of replacing Rusty Theron with Lee on his first match on return as he is a proven performer in the world stage. But persisting with Lee match after match, failure after failure and benching the man who won you the only game in the tournament….!!! That logic I still can’t understand and never will.

Oh dear………..

Uthappa, KP and Kohli played brilliantly for RCB. Bipul Sharma was good with the ball for Punjab.

Next Match :- Vs Kolkata Knight Riders on 04.04.2010

KXIP Vs MI Review

It was the same story yet again for Punjab. They lost their 6th match in 7 games and are virtually out of the reckoning from a semi final spot. It was another match which they could have won with a little more discipline in the final stages of the Mumbai innings. But as is the story in this IPL Punjab lacked the killer instinct to close out a match which was theirs for the taking.

Punjab welcomed back their hero of 2008 Shaun Marsh and he didn't disappoint. A fluent 57 off 47 balls was more than good from a man coming back from an injury lay off. But the major problems continue to haunt Punjab. The failures of Yuvraj, Jayawardene and Bopara meant that they could only post a target of 164 for Mumbai which was less than intimidating. Malinga was excellent with his yorkers and never really allowed Punjab any sort of momentum to finish with superb match figures of 4-0-22-4. 

Disciplined bowling from Punjab meant that the game will go down to the wire. Mumbai lost wickets at regular intervals and Sachin Tendulkar also failed with the bat. The unlikely hero for Punjab with the ball was Ravi Bopara with his dibbly dobblies finishing with figures of 4-0-31-3. At one stage it was 3-0-18-3 until he bowled the decisive 19th over. That was a real blunder by the stand in captain Jayawardene. That over leaked 13 runs and sealed the game for Mumbai. Mahela should have brought Lee to bowl the 19th over to make the game tight. He missed the trick there and the match was lost.

Problems looms large in the form of Yuvraj Singh and Mahela Jayawardene. With Lee yet to find his rhythm the bowling department is also looking toothless. 

Next match :- Vs Royal Challengers Bangalore on 02.04.2010

 

KXIP Vs KKR Review

So the time is running out fast for the Zintans after they lost their 5th game in 6 matches in IPL 3. This was a match that their supporters would have hoped to win as KKR was also on the way down after their victories in the opening 2 games. 

KKR won the toss and elected to bat and they piled up 183/5 (same as RR put up against us). I am seriously beginning to doubt the credentials of Sangakkara as a captain. I just couldn't understand his decision to always go with Irfan Pathan in the end overs. The guy is just bowling military medium pace and is the perfect pace for the batsmen who is waiting to slog. As was the in the match against Rajasthan Sanga didn't bother to complete the quota of another bowler who was far more effective than Irfan. This time it was Shalabh Srivastava who had the match figures of 3-0-23-2. I just can't understand the thinking of Sanga here. 

Brett Lee was rusty on his return although he bowled better than Irfan.

Bating again was crap and the writing was on the cards at the half way stage itself. 

So the two best chances we had (against Rajasthan and Kolkata) has gone out of the window. The next match is against the Red hot Mumbai Indians and frankly there is not much of a hope for a turnaround.