Find Me A 100 Winner / Ed Hawkins / 02 May 2009 /

Kolkata skipper Brendon McCullum says he will write his resignation letter if the team fails to make the semis. King's XI, who are united and hard working, can hand him the pen, says Ed Hawkins...

Chris Gayle was talking of delaying his trip to England to join his West Indies squad if Kolkata had beaten Mumbai. Despite defeat and an ankle injury, the West Indies board appear to have agreed to him staying on for one more game. His overseas spot - remember only four 'foreigners' allowed' -could have gone to Ajantha Mendis who has played only twice. King's XI, undoubtedly unnerved after their collapse against Bangalore, do not have the depth for wholsesale changes. Simon Katich has taken Ravi Bopara's spot while Yusuf Abdulla, with four wickets last time out, was the tournament's top bowler before Saturday's games.

Venue, pitch and conditions

The 187 scored by Mumbai against Kolkata is the second highest first-innings total in IPL as Port Elizabeth has favoured the batting side. The average total is 140 in the last eight Twenty20 matches there although the three first-innings scores so far in IPL2 at the venue (not including Saturday's match) have bucked that statistic: 179/149/187. It should also be noted that Kolkata were bowled out for 95 against Mumbai there. There is no rain forecast for this match.

Match odds

Kolkata's only victory so far came against King's XI. They won by 11 runs (D-L Method) in the sixth match of the tournament. It proved to be a false dawn for the Knight Riders, however and since then the fortunes of the respective sides have gone in opposite directions. Kolkata, who are [1.85] look ill-disciplined and are racked by ill-judgement. Brendon McCullum, the skipper, has said he will write his resignation letter if the team fails to make the semis. King's XI, who are united and hard working, can hand him the pen at [1.51]. They should have beaten Bangalore in their last outing but got complacent after Yuvraj Singh's hat-trick and blistering assault. They should have learned the need to concentrate for 40 overs.

Top batsmen

Yuvraj Singh top scored for King's in the previous meeting, ominous for Kolkata following his 34-ball 50 from the No 1 position. Sourav Ganguly top-scored for Kolkata on this ground against Mumbai and could open the batting with Brendon McCullum, who dropped himself down the order in a move which revealed the turmoil in his mind.


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Laying a batsman to score 25 runs or more is slightly risky in such a thrash and bash format but there appears to be justification when it comes to McCullum. He is a freebird at his best but in IPL he has had his wings clipped by the pressure of captaincy. He looks a broken man with just 31 runs in six innings.

Lay Brendan McCullum 25 runs mark around [2.3]

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