IPL 5: Pune Warriors look for revenge against Deccan Chargers

Having lost to Deccan Chargers at home last week, Pune Warriors will look to extract revenge when the two teams square off in an Indian Premier League match here on Tuesday.

The Sourav Ganguly-led Warriors are currently placed at No. 7 in the points table, with just four wins out of the nine and the team would like to put its campaign back on track against table-trailers Chargers.

The bowling troika of Marlon Samuels, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rahul Sharma looked ordinary against Chargers at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium. However, Pune can take some heart from the performance of Ashish Nehra and South African import Alfanso Thomas.

Thomas has particularly been impressive with the ball conceding just over six runs an over in the three matches he has played for the Warriors so far.

Nehra, on the other hand, has looked good in patches, but his inability to strike early in the last few games have raised concerns in the Pune camp.

The form of leg-spinner Rahul Sharma is also a matter of worry for the visitors and with Ashok Dinda still nursing a side strain the Pune attack wears a rather depleted look.

Their batsmen have been performing well, but the team would want its top-order to be more consistent.

Jesse Ryder has amassed 224 runs in the tournament so far, courtesy his 86-run knock against Delhi Daredevils and
another 73 against Chennai Super Kings, but in the rest of the matches the New Zealander has struggled to get going.

The skipper also hasn't wielded his bat to much of an effect with 41 being his highest.

Samuels and Manish Pandey, too, have not been able to prove their worth so far.

The only consistent performance for the Warriors has come from Robin Uthappa and Australian recruit Steven Smith.