Abu Dhabi: With Kings XI Punjab star Glenn Maxwell batting as if he is possessed in the Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014, most teams will be working over time to find a chink in his armoury.
So far Maxwell has been the king of this IPL season and Kings XI Punjab will be banking on him to help them continue their winning streak when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders under lights at the Shaikh Zayed Stadium here on Saturday.
With both teams coming into the match on the back of wins, Kings XI having seen off Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday and KKR prevailing in a last-ball thriller against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday, it is expected to be a cracker of a match in front of a sell-out crowd.
KXIP, the only team with a 100 per cent winning record, defeated Sunrisers by the enormous margin of 72 runs in their last outing.
Maxwell has taken the desert by storm with knocks of 95, 89 and 95 and, more importantly, induced fear among the bowlers with his improvisation — especially the switch-hit.
The 25-year-old is the first player to score more than 200 runs in this edition of the IPL. His tally of 279 in three innings includes three 50s, at an average of 93.00, and 17 sixes. With the Australian capable of accelerating the run-rate at will, all that Punjab needs is a decent start from Virender Sehwag and Cheteshwar Pujara. Sehwag has already shown signs of redemption by scoring a fluent 30 in the last match and is clearly on the road to rediscovering his touch. Pujara has done what is expected of him, trying to play through the innings, but Kings XI Punjab would surely like see him score at a faster pace.
If KKR can get through these three, they still have to tackle the South African big hitter David Miller, who has hit two half-centuries so far and led his side to a superb win against Rajasthan Royals with a sensational unbeaten 19-ball 51.
For KKR, meanwhile, Thursday belonged to Queenslander Chris Lynn. He became an instant hit on YouTube after taking a spectacular catch to get rid of RCB’s AB de Villiers, which completely changed the complexion of the game. He was also outstanding with the bat, scoring a 31-ball 45.
KKR will be banking on him and the experience of veteran all-rounder Jacques Kallis to turn things around. Wily spinner Sunil Narine will also have a huge role to play and it will be interesting to see how Maxwell goes about his business against the West Indian.
Medium-pacer Vinay Kumar did a marvellous job by altering the pace of the ball and ended up claiming two wickets in four overs, conceding just 26, on Thursday.
However, the biggest worry for KKR is the form of their skipper Gautam Gambhir. The southpaw has so far been in miserable form, with three ducks in a row. He will be under tremendous pressure to get those statistics right on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Kings XI Punjab will wear blue wrist-bands during the matchon Saturday.
This is to support the World Immunisation Week, with immunisation one of the world’s most powerful tools for health to protect children of India against preventable diseases.
The George Bailey-led team’s wrist-bands will be marked ‘shot4life’ to build awareness about the importance of immunisation, which can save lives of countless children every year in India, many of whom do not live to see their fifth birthday.
