Daijiworld Media Network
Jaipur, Apr 14: Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the 18th match between Rajasthan and Punjab. Rajasthan are hampered by injuries to their star players. Both teams were beaten convincingly in their last games and this should be an exciting match. Punjab hold a slight edge over Rajasthan as their seamers will be aided by the pitch at Rajasthan.
Rajasthan have won the toss and elected to field.
Teams:
Rajasthan (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane, Shane Watson, Rahul Dravid(c), Stuart Binny, Brad Hodge, Sanju Samson(w), James Faulkner, Kevon Cooper, Siddharth Trivedi, Ajit Chandila, S Sreesanth
Punjab (Playing XI): Mandeep Singh, Adam Gilchrist(w/c), Manan Vohra, David Hussey, Gurkeerat Singh, Azhar Mahmood, Rajagopal Sathish, Piyush Chawla, Ryan Harris, Praveen Kumar, Parvinder Awana
Gilchrist: Still early for us. Some teams are almost half way through the tournament! We need to try and be consistent. The pitch looks hard and it should have good bounce. We would have bowled first as well. Chasing seems to be the better thing to do on this ground. There may be a bit of dew later on. We're unchanged.
Dravid: Nice to start well. Bit disappointed with the last game. TO be fair, we did a lot of things right but allowed them to get away in the first 6 overs. We have to correct that quickly. We've got a pretty good bowling attack this year, compared to last year. So far it has been going good. I was a bit concerned going into the tournament because I had a long break. But it has been going well so far. We've got to play well and work on our processes. We've had a few injury concerns. Watson is back. Yagnik is out. Sanju Samson comes in. Chandila the off spinner comes on.
Match Preview:
Having suffering losses in their previous games, both Rajasthan and Punjab will be eager get back on track. Rajasthan, who will be playing their fourth match and their second home game, will be hoping for their third win while Punjab, will be in search of their second win, having won one and lost one.
Rajasthan:
Team News: Shane Watson missed the match against Pune due to an ankle injury that he sustained in his first game when he dived to stop a ball. He is likely to be fit for the match against Punjab, which would mean that Kusal Perera would be the player to make way.
In form players:
Skipper Rahul Dravid has led from the front, having registered a couple of half-centuries including one against Pune in their last game. His presence in the middle is a sign of assurance for any team he plays for and the former India number 3 will be eager to leave a lasting impression in what will be his last season of the Indian T20 League. Ajinkya Rahane too has been good with the bat, giving his side good starts in the tournament so far. With scores of 30, 36 and 38 so far, the youngster has not converted his starts into bigger contributions and he will be hoping to do so in the match against Punjab. Rajasthan will also be happy with Brad Hodge, who has been providing valuable contributions down the order. In the bowling department, Kevon Cooper has been in good form, having picked up six wickets so far while bowling at a good economy rate as well. James Faulker, who was given an opportunity in the previous match, also delivered a good performance picking up 2 wickets while conceding 17 runs. Rajasthan will be hoping that the pair continue doing the same in the upcoming matches.
Struggling for form:
While Rajasthan have done a fair job with the bat in the matches that they have played so far, they have not been able to finish with with bigger totals as they have shown a tendency to lose their way towards the end overs. Rajasthan, who have batted first in all the three games, have not been getting good contributions from the middle order. Cooper failed on both the occasions he got an opportunity to bat as did Dishant Yagnik. Stuart Binny, apart from his knock of 40 against Delhi, has not contributed substantially. Also, at the top of the order, Perera has failed twice while Watson too did not do much in the one match that he played. Rajasthan's main concern will be with the bowlers. Sreesanth, Siddharth Trivedi and Rahul Shukla have had expensive returns in a couple of matches while young left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh failed to impress in the last game.
Previous results: Lost to Pune by 7 wickets, Won against Kolkata by 19 runs, Won against Delhi by 5 runs.
Probable 4 foreigners: Shane Watson, Brad Hodge, Kevon Cooper, James Faulkner
Punjab:
Team News: Barring Shaun Marsh, who has not joined the team yet due to an injury, Punjab do not have any other fitness concerns. There are indications that local boy Aniket Choudhary will play that game. While coach Darren Lehman mentioned that Choudhary had been brought in for a specific reason, he did not confirm if he would play.
In form players:
Punjab cruised to victory in the opening game against Pune thanks to the efforts of the bowlers who restricted the Maharashtra franchise to a paltry 99/9. Praveen Kumar and Azhar Mahmood picked up a couple of wickets each in that game while Ryan Harris, Parvinder Awana and Piyush Chawla kept things tight while scalping a wicket apiece. Although the bowlers failed to deliver in their next game against Chennai, they could prove to be a handful on the quickish track in Rajasthan.
Struggling for form:
While they easily chased down a low total against Pune, Punjab batsmen were found wanting against the quality Chennai attack could only muster a total of 138 before being bowled out. Barring David Hussey and Gurkeerat Singh, none of the batsmen made any impact. They Punjab team will be concerned about the brittle middle order and will also be hoping that Adam Gilchrist strikes form soon, with the skipper having failed in both the matches.
Previous results: Lost to Chennai by 10 wickets, Won against Pune by 8 wickets.
Probable 4 foreigners: Adam Gilchrist, David Hussey, Azhar Mahmood, Ryan Harris.
Quotes:
He is a professional player and has turned out in the nets, training hard and bowling well: Owais Shah says Sreesanth is raring to go.
We began in convincing fashion and then suffered a humiliating defeat. We need to show more consistency: Punjab coach Darren Lehmann