Indian Premier League - IPL / Tobias Gourlay / 26 March 2010 /

The only way is up for bottom-of-the-table Kings XI Punjab. And, for their star man, Tobias Gourlay thinks the only way is up, over and out of the ground.

Venue and Conditions

A model city designed by a Frenchman, Chandigarh is cleaner, greener and less cluttered than anywhere else of similar size on the Subcontinent. On the edge of this Indian Milton Keynes is the PCA Stadium at Mohali, built with an appropriate level of planning in the early 1990s. The pitch was lively in its youth, but has settled down now. For IPL 2010, its curator, Daljit Singh, has worked hard to produce a surface that, although worn down by a full domestic season just gone, offers pace and carry to bowlers.

Twenty20 scores of 200 or more have not been uncommon in the past, but the two first-innings totals here so far are 142/9, which wasn't enough for the Kings XI Punjab, and 183/5, which was more than enough for the Rajasthan Royals.

Team News

A technician with a taste for big Test scores, Mahela Jayawardene is not a natural T20 star and he is likely to be dropped by the Kings XI Punjab for Shaun Marsh, son of Geoff, highest run-scorer in IPL 2008 and possessor of exactly the right attention span for cricket's shortest form.

Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth look capable of career-long inconsistency and aren't going to resolve that in this tournament, but their older compatriot, Shalabh Srivastava, a less pacy left-armer who previously earned wickets through accuracy, has followed their lead, leaving the Kings XI heavily reliant on the leg-spin of young Piyush Chawla - just named in India's World T20 squad - and Rusty Theron - just named in South Africa's World T20 squad - the specialist death-bowler who earned the franchise its only victory to date in a Super Over against Chennai. Theron was impressively cool too against Rajasthan last time out and will probably keep Brett Lee out of the team for at least one more game.

After finishing international duties, Chris Gayle and Shane Bond have joined up with the rest of the Knight Riders recently. Bond has had three matches to get up to speed, but hasn't done so yet. He was taken for more than 10 an over by the Mumbai Indians last time out.

That match was Gayle's first. He made a sedate 75, restricted perhaps by his batting mates' tentativeness. Those runs already make him Kolkata's fourth-highest scorer in the tournament so far. Even those still above him - Owais Shah, Sourav Ganguly and, in particular, Brad Hodge - will hardly be satisfied with their performances so far.

The visitors' most consistent performer to date has been Murali Karthik. Among bowlers who have sent down more than 10 overs in the tournament, only Anil Kumble can better the slow left-armer's 5.57 economy rate.

Match Odds

Head to head, the two sides have each won two of the four games they've played so far. The last time they met in Mohali, the Kings XI's first-innings 178 was good enough for a six-run win, thanks to unusually economical bowling spells from Sreesanth and Pathan.

As the match begins on Saturday, both teams will be available at close to evens. The Knight Riders are on a losing streak of three - still some way off their run of 11 without a win last year - while the Kings XI are yet to win a match in regulation time. On paper, late arrivals mean both are stronger than they were at the tournament's outset, but the recent-form books are almost empty and there's little basis upon which to judge the impacts of Gayle, Bond and Marsh.

Top Batsman

With 40, Shaun Marsh was the Kings XI's top-scorer the last time the Knight Riders were in town. This time Marsh is included in Any Other Batsman, which is a [4.5] shot. In his absence at the top of the order, Ravi Bopara (also [4.5]) is averaging almost 40 and was the Kings XI's top-scorer in each of their first two matches. Manvinder Bisla ([7.0]) is in good form, but might drop down the order to accommodate Marsh, so the best value probably lies with Yuvraj Singh ([5.1]), who made a top-scoring 43 against Chennai on Sunday and finally looks ready to make his mark on IPL 2010.

Chris Gayle will probably lead the Top Kolkata Batsman market when it opens. None of his team-mates stand out as valuable alternatives.

Most Sixes

To date, Kolkata have hit fewer sixes (15 from five matches) and scored a lower percentage of their runs that way than any other team. Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds of the Deccan Chargers have played only four games each, but have 17 between them. The Knight Riders have Chris Gayle now, but he cleared the ropes only twice in his 75 against Mumbai. If you can find Punjab - newly equipped with Marsh - somewhere close to evens, back them.

Trivia

Hardly trivia - it might have an important bearing on his performance in this match - but Chandigarh is Yuvraj Singh's home town.

Tobias Gourlay Says: Back Yuvraj Singh at [5.1] to be Top Punjab Batsman

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