IPL T20- Indian Premier League

What

Match 13 of Pepsi IPL 2013 will feature a battle between two teams with contrasting fortunes. Pune Warriors India, who’ve lost their first two matches and lie at the bottom of the table, play host to the Rajasthan Royals who’ve won two out of two and are sitting pretty in the top half of the table.

A very good team on paper, the Pune Warriors haven’t quite got their act together. The team failed to chase down 126 and suffered an embarrassing 22-run defeat in their opening match at home. Things went from bad to worse in the second game when, sans Yuvraj Singh, they batted out their entire 20 overs but only managed to post 99 runs on the board. Robin Uthappa, Marlon Samuels, Ross Taylor and Angelo Mathews have reputations of being very dangerous batsmen; but between them, they’ve only managed to contribute 97 runs in two matches and that has hurt the team big time. Having lost two matches, they will want to get their first points on the board and they have a good chance of doing so when they play this home fixture.

The Rajasthan Royals may not possess too many superstars in their line-up. But their strength lies in the fact that all the players in the line-up play with freedom and punch above their weight. The team would have learnt their lessons from last season, when they won four of their first six matches but only managed to win three of their remaining ten, eventually missing out on a Play-Off berth by just one win.

When

Thursday, April 11, 2013, 8 p.m

Where

Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, Pune

The Protagonists

The Pune Warriors India will look forward to the return of Yuvraj Singh to their line-up. The southpaw had to miss the previous game owing to back injury and is more than likely to be available for this match. Also keep an eye on Ross Taylor whose place in the XI could come under the scanner after two poor outings and with growing voices for the inclusion of Steve Smith. The 23-year old Smith was Pune Warriors’ second-highest run-getter last season and was in good touch during Australia’s Test series in India recently.

For Rajasthan Royals, Ajinkya Rahane showed glimpses of good form in the previous match. Given his growth chart as a cricketer, he will be expected to play a key role for the Royals. Shane Watson didn’t contribute too much in his first outing and he will be itching to make a bigger contribution, as will Brad Hodge whose knock was chiefly responsible in RR posting a respective total against KKR.

Previous Meetings

The Rajasthan Royals have a 100% record against Pune Warriors India. The two teams have so far met on three occasions and the Rajasthan Royals have won each of those matches.

Trivia

Pune Warriors India will be very keen to improve on their home record; the team has only managed to win two of the nine matches they’ve played at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune.

Siddharth Trivedi is the Rajasthan Royals’ most-capped player; he has played 61 of the franchises 76 matches in the IPL.

What Next

Pune Warriors India will hop across the city to the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai to take on the Mumbai Indians on April 13 while the Rajasthan Royals will head back home to host Kings XI Punjab on April 14.

Rajasthan Royals continued their winning form with a convincing 19 run win over Kolkata Knight Riders at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. Defending a modest 144, the RR bowlers put on a good show to bowl out KKR for 125 to script their second win of the tournament.

Chasing 145, KKR started off briskly with Gautam Gambhir giving the charge to Sreesanth and depositing him for a six in the very first over. Rahul Shukla struck twice in the third over, first bowling Manvinder Bisla (1) before having Jaques Kallis (0) caught behind. Siddharth Trivedi then further sunk KKR dismissing Gambhir (22) and Manoj Tiwary (14) in quick succession. Yusuf Pathan (0) fell the very next over to Kevon Cooper leaving KKR reeling at 44 for 5.

Laxmi Shukla (2) fell to Trivedi handing him his third wicket. Eoin Morgan (51) who was given an early reprieve by Shane Watson on 2, made the most of it smashing Rahul Shukla for a boundary and a six off the 14th over. KKR lost Rajat Bhatia (12) holing out at deep midwicket off Shaun Tait, before Sreesanth picked up Brett Lee (5). 

Needing 23 runs from the last two overs, Cooper sealed the match taking the wicket of the well set Morgan who was slow to begin but played some sparkling strokes once he had his eye in. KKR were finally bowled out for 125 runs, 19 short of RR’s total. 

Earlier in the evening, KKR won the toss and elected to field. Lee struck first having the dangerous Watson (5) caught at short extra cover. Ajinkya Rahane hit two consecutive boundaries off Mohammad Shami, but RR struggled to find momentum and managed just 35 runs in the power play. Bhatia bowled Rahul Dravid (17) to give KKR their second wicket. Stuart Binny (14) followed soon after out leg before to Laxmi Shukla.

Rahane put his foot on the pedal hitting Mohammad Shami for a six, as RR took 14 runs of his over, but KKR struck back with Sunil Narine striking twice. He first removed Rahane (36) caught behind before having Kevon Cooper stumped. Brad Hodge (46*) struck a few lusty blows to push forward RR's score. He found an ideal companion in Dishant Yagnik (16) who smashed a six and a boundary of Narine to score 18 runs of the 19th over. RR eventually finished at 144 for 6 from their 20 overs.

Man-of-the-Match: Siddharth Trivedi

Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals 144 for 6 in 20.0 overs (Brad Hodge 45*, Sunil Narine 2-28) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 125 all out in 20.0 overs (Eoin Morgan 51, Siddharth Trivedi 3-23) by 19 runs.

What

Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders play their first away fixture of the Pepsi IPL VI season when they take on the Rajasthan Royals.

Both teams come into this fixture after beating the Delhi Daredevils in their respective opening games. While the Kolkata Knight Riders registered a convincing win in the season opener, the Rajasthan Royals held their nerves to clinch a 5-run victory at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Saturday.

The Royals are formidable opponents while playing at home; they’ve won 16 of their 25 home fixtures. However, in IPL 2012, they only managed to win half their home games and they will be aware that they need to do better to push for a place amongst the top four teams.

The Kolkata Knight Riders meanwhile are on a roll; they’ve won each of their last five matches – stretching into last season – and will be hoping to extend that run well into the season.

When

Monday, April 8, 2013, 8 p.m

Where

Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur

The Protagonists

The Rajasthan Royals will be boosted by the availability of Shane Watson. Watson has been a consistent performer for the Royals with both bat and ball. However, in the initial games this season he will only be available for selection as a batsman. The Royals will be hoping that the Australian not only makes useful contributions but goes on to make those big scores.

Despite not playing any other form of cricket, Rahul Dravid looked in good touch in the opening game and was the Royals’ top-scorer. Though he pulled a muscle and did not take the field for the better part of the Daredevils’ run-chase, the Royals’ skipper has expressed confidence that he would have recovered enough to take the field in his team’s first home game. Brad Hodge, the top run-getter in the Twenty20 format, along with Owais Shah will be the other key names in the batting line-up.

For KKR, look no further than skipper Gautam Gambhir. The southpaw, a very determined character and one who believes in leading from the front, looked in good touch in the season opener and he will be keen to carry that form through the tournament.

Among the bowlers, the eight overs of L Balaji and Sunil Narine (together) and how much the opponents score of those overs, could have a significant bearing on the result. No one has bettered the art of bowling on sub-continent conditions better than Balaji, while batsmen are yet to decipher the mystery of Narine. 

Previous Meetings

There’s nothing to separate the Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders where previous fixtures are concerned. Both the Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders have won five matches apiece. However barring the one tied fixture in 2009 which was won by the Rajasthan Royals in the one-over eliminator, all the remaining nine matches have been clearly one-sided fixtures. 

Trivia

The Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir currently shares the record for the most half-centuries in the IPL with Chris Gayle and Jacques Kallis. All three players have scored 16 50-plus scores in the IPL.

What Next

Both team’s next fixtures are scheduled on April 11. The Rajasthan Royals will next be seen in action at Pune when they take on Pune Warriors India, while the Kolkata Knight Riders will head down south to the Garden City of Bengaluru to take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Rajasthan Royals, playing their first match in Pepsi IPL 2013, held their nerves to post a 5-run win over the home side, Delhi Daredevils. Dravid led from the front, scoring 65 runs to enable RR post a healthy 165, before some heroics from the Royals bowling at the death caught DD short. David Warner's calm innings of 77 went in vain for Delhi. 

Chasing 166, Unmukt Chand (19) got DD off to a brisk start before Sreesanth made a mess of his stumps. Warner, who had dropped Rahul Dravid on 43 earlier, was returned the favor as the RR captain put him down on 2. Warner and Mahela Jayawardene (19) approached the chase cautiously putting together 43 runs before Ajinkya Rahane pulled off a blinder at point to send back the Daredevils captain. 

Warner then found a suitable ally in Manprit Juneja (20) and the duo immediately lifted the run rate, taking the team to the threshold of victory. But the wickets of Juneja and Warner, run out in penultimate over, brought RR back in the match. Kevon Cooper bowled an accurate last over to take his team to victory.

Earlier RR won the toss and elected to bat. Kushal Perera (14) making his IPL debut got going with a boundary. He was given a reprieve on 5, but two boundaries later, he fell to Umesh Yadav. Dravid and Rahane (28) steadied the ship and laid the foundation adding 65 runs for the second wicket. The partnership was broken by Shahbaz Nadeem when he accepted a simple return catch from Rahane.

DD fielding was unusually substandard and Dravid made the most of it going onto score a brilliant 65. Stuart Binny played an aggressive cameo scoring 40 runs of just 20 balls. He dismissed Botha's first three balls for 14 runs before depositing Ashish Nehra for a six and a four. The next over Yadav sent him back, before he wrecked more havoc and in his final over he struck twice sending back Dravid and Hodge (5). With a flurry of wickets falling at the end, RR finished at 165 runs for 7 from their 20 overs.

Man-of-the-Match: Rahul Dravid

Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals 165-7 (Rahul Dravid 65, Stuart Binny 40, Umesh Yadav 4-24) beat Delhi Daredevils 160-6 (David Warner 77, Kevon Cooper 3-30) by 5 runs.