Can Warriors spoil Knight Riders’ party?

Knowing they have nothing to lose with eight defeats in 12 games and being out of contention for playoff berth, Pune Warriors India would be looking to play the role of party poopers when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the DY Patil Stadium here on Thursday.

The Knight Riders are well poised to make it to the second phase, with seven wins out of 12 games and 14 points.

A win over the struggling Yuvraj Singh-led side would make it easy for the Gautam Gambhir-led side to advance to the playoff stage. The Warriors, who have enough armoury to upset the calculations, will not be taken lightly by Kolkata side.

A defeat for KKR would make their position shaky with Kings XI Punjab creeping up the table in some style. Punjab have sent out a strong message to the top-four teams in the table, following their crushing 111-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday night.

The fixture will also see Sourav Ganguly playing against his old team. The former India skipper would be eager to stamp his authority on the proceedings and send a message to the owners of the KKR, who discarded him after three years.

The Kolkata outfit showed consistency in the beginning but have faltered in their last few outings. For now, they have had enough time to recover from their previous defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore and would look to seal the deal against the Warriors.

KKR’s batting has revolved around skipper Gambhir, Jacques Kallis, Manoj Tiwary with Yusuf Pathan and Eoin Morgan coming good on and off.

Their bowling has been sustained by spinners in Pathan and left-armer Iqbal Abdulla, but they would be expecting Brett Lee to fire sooner rather than later. With just four wickets in 12 games, his economy rate also hasn’t been any impressive. Lee, therefore, would be looking to hit the right chords with today’s fixture.

On the other hand, Warriors’ batting hasn’t lived up to expectations and has largely depended on Ryder at the top and Yuvraj in the middle till Ganguly’s late arrival. Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey have not made the most of the promising starts. Uthappa said after the defeat against Deccan Chargers in the last game, the team would strive hard to win their last two games and avoid the wooden spoon.

“Definitely, we would play for pride. We would not want to be there at the bottom of the table. The season is not over yet. If we can finish on a high, we would be better off psychologically for next season,” said the Karnataka batsman.

Their bowling too has been unimpressive with only Rahul Sharma’s 16 wickets from 12 games standing out. Wayne Parnell and Yuvraj Singh are the other two bowlers who have had a decent run till now.