Rajasthan, Punjab clash in battle of laggards

Mohali:

High on morale after ending their three-match losing streak, both Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab would be hoping to carry on the winning momentum when the two teams clash against each other in an Indian Premier League on Wednesday.

Kings XI and Rajasthan Royals are at the bottom of the points table with just one win out of the four matches they played in the event so far and both the teams need to get their acts together to be in with the slighest chance of progressing to the semifinals.

Notwithstanding, their performance in the tournament so far, on paper Kings XI look a more formidable side as the team has plenty of international stars up its ranks.

As if Yuvraj Singh's return to form was not enough of a worry for Rajasthan, Kings XI, who snapped their losing streak with a thrilling Super Over win over Chennai Super Kings last Saturday, got a major boost when Aussie speedster Brett Lee and opener Shaun Marsh joined the side yesterday.

In the last match against Chennai, Punjab's batting mainly revolved around Irfan Pathan and Yuvraj with the duo managing 82 runs in the 10 overs they faced between them, while the rest of the batters wore a sorry look, scoring just 54.

Englishman Ravi Bopara too has been inconsistent with the bat, but the major concern for Kings XI would be the form of its Sri Lankan recruits skipper Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.

Both Sangakkara and Jayawardene have so far done very little in the tournament and its high time for the duo to come up with performances to justify their star status in the team.

Devoid of any big names, the Punjab side bowling department did more than a decent job against a strong Chennai batting line-up in the last match.

A little-known South African pacer Juan Theron, making his IPL debut turned out to be Punjab's bowling hero in the regulation time against Chennai.