The competition bar will be set high for Kings XI Punjab when they take on the stiffer Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 8th match of the IPL 10 at their adopted home – The Holkar Stadium, Indore.
The mood is set perfectly for the upcoming game, as they started off their campaign on an impressive note, beating RPSG by six wickets with an over to spare. This kind of win surely pumps up the confidence, especially playing under a new skipper and after getting knocked out of the previous edition in the league stages itself.
The upcoming game will be a test of the quality in their line-up. They grabbed the win pretty easily, as RPSG committed few errors in the bowling department.
However, RCB’s attack is two times better than what was on offer in the opening rubber. Therefore, the upcoming match will put Kings XI Punjab’s strength and weaknesses on display.
Previous encounters:
Both the last met in the 2016 edition. The match ended in RCB’s favour as they beat the KXIP by 82 runs in the night game. The only thing that Punjab did well in the match was to win the toss as Virat Kohli, batting with none stitches in his left hand, blew away them single-handedly with a record 113 runs knock.
Chris Gayle, the Jamaican bulldozer also played a 32 ball 73 runs knock.
The contribution saw a mammoth 212 runs target being set in front of the KXIP. In response, the Yuzvendra Chahal along with S. Aravind and Shane Watson ensured that Kings XI Punjab was never able to get close to the target. All they could manage was 120/9 in 14 overs chasing a revised target of 203.
Recent Form:
Kings XI Punjab began their campaign on a highly impressive note. The dangerous looking Rising Pune Super Giants, who had beat a string Mumbai Indians side in an emphatic fashion, ended up being no match to the collective efforts put up by the Punjab franchise.
First up their bowling looked in good rhythm. Although the likes of T Natarajan and Marcus Stoinis were expensive, the wicket came in good succession which hampered the run rate of the opposition. The batting was also impressive but it remains to be tested properly against a better quality bowling attack.
Win-Loss record:
WLLLW (Last five games)
Talking Points
Glenn Maxwell will be the man under the spotlight, thanks to his Man of the Match winning knock that paved the way for Punjab to snatch an easy win. The attacking right-hander will have to do the rescue job that he executed in the previous game. He is their best and the one of the pure attacking option available apart from David Miller. KXIP’s fate truly depends on the performances that Maxi puts with the bat.
The other talking point ahead of the match will be the place of Marcus Stoinis. Stoinis wasn’t effective looking and shelled out 28 runs in three overs. While it is highly unlikely that he will be rested; including Darren Sammy as a like to like all-rounder replacement will add more muscle to both batting and bowling department. KXIP will need to bulk up their batting department with more firepower considering the fact that they will be facing the likes of Tymal Mills, Yuzvendra Chahal and Shane Watson.
Predicted XI:
Hashim Amla, Manan Vohra, Wriddhiman Saha, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, Marcus Stoinis/ Darren Sammy, Swapnil Singh, Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan