Pune Warriors get set to take on Kochi Tuskers
Two teams have made their debut in this edition of the Indian Premier League. While one has registered a comprehensive victory in their opening match, the other missed out by a narrow margin.
- NDTVSports
- Updated: April 13, 2011 03:31 AM IST
Two teams have made their debut in this edition of the Indian Premier League. While one has registered a comprehensive victory in its opening match, the other missed out by a narrow margin. Both though have a chance to prove mettle again, this time against each other as the Pune Warriors take on the Kochi Tuskers Kerala at the DY Patil stadium here.
Though both the teams have a list of stars to hint at a strong performance come Wednesday, the Warriors will go with a slight edge considering how their team played against the Kings XI Punjab outfit. Sharp fielding and aggressive batting was completely overshadowed by a bowling performance that left the opposition ravaged.
Kochi Tuskers on the other hand, may have learnt from the mistakes made by Punjab's top-order and will look to steal the thunder from Pune's pace battery led by Alfonso Thomas and man-of-the-match from the opening game, Shrikant Wagh. It however, will not be easy by any stretch of imagination.
With all-rounders like Yuvraj Singh, Jesse Ryder and Mithun Manhas backing up with the ball, expect a relentless attack from the Warriors.
A one-sided match is not likely to be on the cards either. Kochi showed a lot more composure in their opening match than the Kings XI side though, the opposition in the Royal Challengers was equally lethal. The batting looks firm with Brendon McCullum finding his lost IPL form and VVS Laxman hitting a decent 29-ball 36 at home.
Concern though would be the bowling as both Sreesanth and RP Singh looked slightly jaded in the opening match. If the duo can up their game and can manage to bowl in spells with fellow seamer in Vinay Kumar, even the likes of Yuvraj may just find themselves in a spot of bother as he faces off against a team, hungry for its first ever full points from the power-packed event.