Unseasonal rain threatens to play spoilsport at Mohali which will host the IPL tie between Hyderabad and Punjab
MOHALI: Coming straight from a sensational win over Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab are on a high and would look to to secure a berth in the semifinal by winning their tie against Hyderabad’s Deccan Chargers here on Friday.
However, their chance of strengthening the berth is being threatened by rain gods as the dark clouds are looming over the skies.
On the other hand, Chargers who are languishing at the bottom of the points table with just two wins from 11 matches so far, have lost all hopes to make the last four, hence they would be fighting to salvage some pride with a win over the in-form team.
But it is not going to be an easy task for the Chargers to challenge them as Punjab are playing on their home turf and have won eight of 11 games.
However, Punjab, who defeated Mumbai by one run at Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday, won’t take their opponents lightly as they know this is their best chance to beat the out of form team. An area of concern at the moment is unseasonal rains that have swept the northern region of the country.
Punjab Cricket Association’s curator Daljit Singh, who is also Chairman of BCCI’s grounds and pitches committee, said they had been keeping the wickets covered for the past couple of days in view of the rains.
The Punjab outfit led by Yuvraj Singh has been in a terrific form especially their batting, led by former Australian great Geoff Marsh’s son Shaun who is also the leading run getter for them. He has also produced some match winnings knocks including a crucial 81 against Mumbai Indians.
Then there are the likes of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and skipper Yuvraj Singh, who are capable of winning a match single-handedly.
On the bowling front the home team has a strong pace attack comprising Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth and VRV Singh well supported by leg spinner Piyush Chawla, who has added variety and guile to the attack.
Chargers would be looking forward to a big innings from Adam Gilchrist and hoping that Shahid Afridi lives up to his reputation.
