Kings XI Punjab look to make amends against Chennai Super Kings

Kings XI Punjab will look to put behind the disappointment of their dismal performance against Mumbai Indians in the last game and make amends when they take on Chennai Super Kings in their Indian Premier League match here on Saturday.

Punjab will be eager to forget their last match when they were beaten by the Mumbai Indians as Ambati Rayudu (34) and Robin Peterson (16) creamed leg-spinner Piyush Chawla for 27 runs in the penultimate over to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

But it will be no easy task for the low-on-confidence Punjab outfit to tame the 'Men in Yellow' in their own den.

In fact, not just their last match, Kings XI team's performance has been a cause of worry.

Having lost five of their eight matches so far in the tournament, they are fully aware that they would have to play out of their skins if they intend to topple the hosts.

Their misery is compounded by the absence of skipper Adam Gilchrist, out with an hamstring injury, who is still a doubtful starter for Saturday's match.

But Punjab would be banking heavily on stand-in-skipper David Hussey, whose unbeaten 68-run knock in the last match helped Kings XI post a competitive total against Mumbai Indians.

Besides Hussey, another Australian Shaun Marsh has also been among runs but the other batsmen need to take centre stage in order to give some boost to Kings XI's batting.

They would also be hoping for the bowlers, especially Chawla, to raise their game and deliver.

On the other hand, Super Kings will be riding high on confidence following back-to-back victories over Pune Warriors India and Rajasthan Royals before their last match against Royal Challengers Bangalore was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to heavy rain.

The defending champions though have had mixed fortune so far in the league with four wins and three losses.

But such a situation is not alien to the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side. In the last IPL also Super Kings fought back brilliantly by winning seven out of their last nine league matches to qualify for the play offs.

The South African duo of opener Francois du Plessis and all-rounder Albie Morkel have been key players for the Super Kings with Dhoni himself living up to his reputation of a clinical finisher with the bat.

Du Plessis has been a revelation with the bat.

But the form of Suresh Raina is a matter of grave concern. He has been off colour in this edition till now, scoring just 138 runs from seven innings with a top score of 36. His failure has disappointed Super Kings much in the absence of Michael Hussey, who is away on national duty, making the middle-order a little bit shaky.

The Chennai team, however, will approach the match as favourites. But Dhoni would look for a bit more discipline in the bowling department backed by some sharp fielding.

Teams (from):

Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt), Srikkanth Anirudha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Subramaniam Badrinath, George Bailey, Doug Bollinger, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Ben Hilfenhaus, Michael Hussey, Ravindra Jadeja, Shadab Jakati, Joginder Sharma, Suraj Randiv, Nuwan Kulasekara, Yo Mahesh, Albie Morkel, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha, Scott Styris, Sudeep Tyagi, Kuthethurshri Vasudevadas, Ganapathi Vignesh, Murali Vijay.

Kings XI Punjab: Adam Gilchrist (Capt), Abhishek Nayar, Nitin Saini, Paul Valthaty, Bhargav Bhatt, Bipul Sharma, Harmeet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Amit Yadav, Paras Dogra, Parwinder Awana, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar, R Satish, Ramesh Powar, Shalabh Srivastava, Sidharth Chitnis, Sunny Singh, Vikramjit Singh Malik, Azhar Mahmood, David Hussey, David Miller, Dmitri Mascarenhas, James Faulkner, Shaun Marsh, N Rimmington.