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Showing posts with label Kumar Sangakkara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kumar Sangakkara. Show all posts

Monday, April 11, 2011

Fight for momentum. Preview: KKR vs DC

Cricketainment

KOLDCEach team in IPL 4 played their first game and 5 out of 10 teams opened their account with victory. Unfortunately KKR and DC were ended on losing side in their opening games and they have great chance today to open the account of points. It will not going to be easy for both the teams to go in with relaxed mind in this game and pressure will be immense on both the teams. KKR’s skipper Gambhir will be under more pressure compared to DC’s Sangakkara because KKR never ended in TOP 5 in previous 3 editions while Deccan won the title in 2009. It will be a test of nerves for Gambhir & Co.

GGOn paper, KKR looks far better team than DC. It has likes of explosive Yusuf Pathan, legendary Jacque Kallis, Indian opener Gautam Gambhir, Bengal Ranji  Captain Manoj Tiwary, superb English middle-order batsmen Eoin Morgan. KKR have all the ammunition this time to beat any team.  However bowling looks bit weak compared to batting, except Kallis there is no big name right now,  Brett Lee is on National duty , so he can’t feature today.

KSOn the other hand, DC batting looks bit weak compared to KKR as they have only Kumar Sangakkara and JP Duminy as accomplished batsmen. DCs bowling is quite ok with Dale Steyn leading the bowlers pack and he is currently one of the finest fast bowler in the World Cricket. Pragyan Ozha have to raise his game today if  DC wants to make some impression in this game.

JKIt will be interesting to see how Kallis will play against Dale Steyn as both are playing for South Africa and today they will be playting against each other. Kallis will open the batting for KKR while Dale Steyn will open the bowling for Deccan Chargers. It will going be interesting little battle in big contest. KKR have to forget their nightmarish loss to CSK before going into this game as they were cruising at one stage in reply to CSK'S 153/4, but Knight Riders lost wickets in a hurry, and required 9 from the last over, but finished at 151/7 and lost by just 2 runs. Gambhir have to come up the order in batting against Deccan Chargers as opening or one-down is the best place for Gambhir-The Batsman. Gambhir raised lot of question when he came into bat lower down the order against CSK in last game.

eden-gardensGreat contest ready to sizzle the Eden Gardens tonight and it will be interesting to see how many fans come to watch this game in absence of KKR’s former skipper Sourav Ganguly. Fans from Kolkata declared after auction that they will not going to watch any of the KKRs game in absence of Sourav Ganguly. KKR starts as  favourite in this game but Deccan have the fire-power to surprise KKR. It is also going to be  important game for Ishant Sharma who is looking to make a come-back in Indian side. He bowled well in last game for Deccan and have to bowl well today against his ex-team.

Cricketainment Review: IPL Weekend Games

Cricketainment

Warriors tame Kings. Brilliant debut by Sahara Pune Warriors.

SPSahara Pune Warriors made explosive debut in IPL with a win under their belt over Kings XI Punjab. It was clinical performance from Sahara Pune Warriors that helped them in this victory. Gilchrist failed to make an impression with the bat and most of his batsmen surrendered to the Warriors bowling. Shreekant Wagh  bowled exceptionally well on a pitch which had some bounce on it and picked up 3 crucial wickets for Pune.

YuvrajRyan McLaren fought hard for Kings XI by playing brilliant knock of 51 and help them in reaching competitive total. After getting out cheaply Kings XI started brilliantly in the fielding as they picked up opener Greame Smith on the first ball of the innings but Jesse Ryder and Mithun Manhas knitted superb partnership and took Warriors near to the victory. In the end Utthappa and skipper Yuvraj finished the game for Warriors by winning it in 14th over itself.

ACIt was comprehensive victory for the costliest side in the tournament. Sahara Pune Warrior has announced their arrival on IPL scene with this thumping victory over Kings XI Punjab. Adam Gilchrist have to inspire his team to do well in coming matches otherwise its going to be a very tough journey for Kings XI Punjab in this edition of IPL.

Man of the Match: Shreekant Wagh

Shrikant-Wagh-Pune-Warriors


Master vs Disciple: Mumbai Indians crushed Delhi Daredevils.

Mumbai IndiansIt was master’s day and he emerged as champion. Disciple failed to live upto the expectation and lost the game. It was Sachin vs Sehwag, a dream contest and in the end Sachin won it for Mumbai Indians. But the game belonged to Slinga Malinga whose brilliant spell proved too deadly for Sehwag’s Daredevil’s and rest of the damage done by poor running between the wickets.

STMIDelhi won the toss on a slow–sluggish pitch and got the advantage to bat in best of the conditions but Malinga soon turned this advantage into disaster as he bowled dream spell to restrict Delhi Daredevils under 100 runs. He ended up with 3rd best figures in IPL and he bowled flurry of Yorkers to Delhi batsmen. It was Maling’a brilliance which forced dasher like Sehwag to play maiden in T20 game. Such was Malinga’s impact. I think it was Malinga who set the stage for Mumbai Indians to win this game.

ShewagOnce Sehwag and Warner got out they fall like nine-pins which left big question-mark on Daredevil’s team for rest of the tournament. It was impressive return for the Irfan Pathan who played any after 1 year. His swing is back and looked good in his spell.

Man of the Match: Lasith Malinga

Malinga


Poor debut for Kochi as RCB beat them in close contest.

RCBrilliance of AB DeVilliers denied Kochi Tuskers Kerala to open their account with a win on their IPL debut. Till 18th over match was perfectly balanced and there was every possibility of close finish but AB DeVilliers had other Ideas as he hit 3 sixes in a over that helped RCB to win the game easily against Kochi Tuskers.

MCLAXKochi started their innings brilliantly on pitch which was full of runs. McCullum and Laxman gave brilliant start but Kochi lost the momentum in the batting in middle overs. When Kochi started their batting,  it looked like they were going to put up score in excess of 180 but RCB pulled it back and restricted them to 160 odd which looked par total on a pitch which was belter.

 RCB22Kochi fought well till 18th over and game was hanging in balance but AB DeVillier’s clean and lusty hitting was the difference between 2 teams. Kochi was unlucky to end on losing side after playing well till that 18th over. It was heartening to see Laxman’s batting and the way he batted it clearly suggest that he has the class to perform in any format of the game and it is wrong to label him as only test player.

Great debut for Daniel Vettori as RCB skipper and unlucky debut for Mahela Jayawardene as a skipper of Kochi team.

Man of the Match: AB DeVilliers

_AB_de_Villiers


Magical Warnie helped RR to beat DC.

RRThere is a saying “Champions are forever Champions’ and Rajasthan Royals captain proved it right. Magical Warnie bowled like a champion, captained like a champion and achieved the comprehensive win over Deccan Chargers on Saturday. Rajasthan bowling came good on the day as they dismissed Deccan for paltry total and then chased down the total quite easily. Siddharth Trivedi once again bowled brilliant spell for Rajasthan and he was brilliantly supported by Amit Singh and Shane Warne who also picked up two wickets. It was quite unbelievable how Warnie bowled in that game. Right from the first ball of his spell, Warnie was spot-on. Remember Warne is not playing cricket entire year and yet he bowls like, he bowled in his prime.

WarnieWarnie once again pulled rabbit out of the hat and that trick worked again for him. When he sent Botha at No.3 and Botha won the game for Rajasthan with the bat as he scored brilliant half-century for Rajasthan Royals.

Deccan FallOn the other hand Deccan remain unsuccessful in stopping Rajasthan from chasing that paltry total. The only bowler from Deccan, who looked like picking up wickets was Dale Steyn who was their most successful bowler. Captain Sangakkara’s failure with the bat also proved costly to Deccan because he is their best batsmen. It was one-sided contest where overall teamwork of Rajasthan helped them in winning this match. It will be interesting to see whether Rajasthan repeats its performance of first season or not in this edition of IPL. So far everything is fine and for Deccan tough time ahead because they don’t have potent batting line-up and form of left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha is also big concern for Deccan.

Man of the Match: Siddharth Trivedi

Sid

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Super-Sunday: Sachin will face Sehwag’s Challenge. Yuvraj’s boys will take on Adam’s boys.

 

IPL Title 6

MIDDTwo more cracker of the contest coming up on Super Sunday. Lets have look first contest of Sunday. Its Sachin’s Mumbai Indians vs Sehwag’s Delhi Daredevils.

Mumbai Indians ended as runners-up in last season after wonderful run through the league phase where they hardly lost the game. Mumbai Indians retaineDHDd their key players Sachin Tendulkar, Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard and Harbhajan Singh. Although they failed to retain Zaheer Khan and lost him to Royal Challengers Bangalore. They bought Andrew Symonds this year which will add spice to this IPL edition because both Harbhajan and Symonds are team-mates now and will cheer each other. Monkey Gate saga is still fresh in the memory of cricket lovers when Symonds alleged Harbajan for making racial remarks against him in India – Australia series and matter got worse. Sachin also supported Harbhajan in that event and now Sachin will be captaining the Symonds. So interesting team formation.

The team sailed to the finals with spirited performances from Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo as well. But a mockery of a decision to hold back Pollard and inability to provide support to MISachin's lone fight cost the team badly and the trophy slipped from a sniffing distance in the final against Chennai Super Kings.his edition should be the time to bury the ghosts of past mishaps. But the loss of important players like Jayasuriya, Bravo, Saurabh Tiwary, Jean Paul Duminy and Zaheer Khan might be hard to cope with.The batting will revolve around Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, newly bought Aiden Blizzard, promising domestic players and a bunch of all-rounders.The Mumbai bowling has Lasith Malinga, Munaf Patel, Clint Mckay and Harbhajan Singh. Going through the list, if you thought this barrel was insufficient for mass consumption, think again!Move your eyes over their list of all-rounders. This team revels in its versatility. James Franklin, Moise Henriques, Symonds, Pollard, etc. can bat and bowl with equal ease while the likes of Rayudu and South African recruit David Jacobs are equally efficient both in front of the wicket and behind it.

Team Info:

Mumbai Indians

Mumbai IndiansSachin Tendulkar (c), Harbhajan Singh, Rohit Sharma, Munaf Patel, Abu Nechim Ahmed, Aditya Tare, Ali Murtuza, Ambati Rayudu, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pawan Suyal, Rajagopal Sathish, Surul Kanwar, Surya Kumar Yadav, T Suman, Yazvendra Singh Chahal, (Foreign) Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Andrew Symonds, Davy Jacobs, James Franklin, Moises Henriques, Alden Blizzard, Dilhara Fernando

Talking about Delhi Daredevils, on paper they were best team of the IPL for last 3 seasons. They had players like Dilhshan, Sehwag, Gambhir , Warner, Ab DeVilliers, Glen McGrath and list continues yet they SehwagDDfailed to win the trophy. They didn’t even reached the finals in any of the 3 editions. So owners decided to revamp the team. They retained only Virender Sehwag wen bought new players in auction.The batting looks lackluster without their star players who played for DD in last 3 seasons. Except Virender Sehwag and David Warner, they have no famed face. Players like Unmukt Chand, Colin Ingram and Aaron Finch come with promise and dwell on hype but walking down the ramp will be an altogether different affair.The bowling seems shoddier with only Morne Morkel, Irfan Pathan and Roelof van der Merwe to talk about. The likes of Ashok Dinda and Ajit Agarkar will make things rosier but how wise would it be to rest hopes on them is a question every fan would ask.

The all-round skills of the team, however, is something to cheer for. Robert Frylink, another South African, is a hero back home. Van der Merwe and Irfan Pathan are good enough to be depended DD SEHupon for a few good knocks and wickets here and there.For a pleasant thought, the wicket-keeper batsmen Mathew Wade and Naman Ojha should add smiles to the faces who know how important bits-and-pieces players are in this version of the game. This season of IPL is also important of player like Irfan Pathan who lost somewhere due to injuries and poor performance after wonderful start to his career against Australia in 2003-2004 season.

Team Info:

Delhi Daredevils

DDVirender Sehwag (Captain), Irfan Pathan, Naman Ojha(Wicket-Keeper), Ajit Agarkar, Ashok Dinda, Umesh Yadav, Venugopal Rao, Aavishkar Salvi, Prashant Naik, Rajesh Pawar, Robin Bist, S Sriram, Tejashwi Yadav, Unmukt Chand, Varun Aaron, Vikash Mishra, Vivek Yadav, Yogesh Nagar, Shahbaz Nadeem (Foreign) David Warner, James Hopes, Morne Morkel, Aaron Finch, Mathew Wade, Roloef van der Merwe, Andrew McDonald, Travis Birt, Collin Ingram, Robert Frylinck.. Greg Shipperd(Coach

On paper Mumbai Indians looks much better team and Delhi Daredevils largely banks on heroics of Sehwag and Warner. Feroze Shah Kotla in Delhi will witness this cracker of the contest.


Yuvraj’s boys will take on Adam’s boys.

SPKP

SPYUVSahara Pune Warriors owned by Sahara Group is another new team alongwith Kochi Tuskers Kerala, to play in this year’s IPL. Team will kick start its campaign on Sunday against Kings Xi Punjab at

Under Yuvraj’s captaincy Sahara Pune Warriors could definitely be a force to reckon with if they play up to their potential during the six week event. They have Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Abhishek YuviJhunjhunwala and Mohnish Mishra in their ranks, Pune Warriors is one of the strongest squad participating in the IPL 4. Their bowling also seems to be well balanced as Ashish Nehra and Jerome Taylor will share the new ball. Injury to Sri Lankan Angelo Mathews could have affected team's strategy, but the availability of young all-rounder Mitchell Marsh will give balance to the side.They have also got specialist spinners in form of experienced Murali Kartik and Kiwi Nathan McCullum.As far as  foreigners in the batting department are concerned, aggressive New Zealander Jesse Ryder can be used up in the batting order, while South African former skipper Graeme Smith is sure to take the opening slot with young Pandey.But the biggest asset that the Pune side carries into the tournament is skipper Yuvraj Singh, who has had a phenomenal World Cup leading up to the IPL.The southpaw was the player of the tournament in the World Cup won by India and playing against his former club could be an experience in itself for the all-rounder.

Team Info:

Sahara Pune Warriors

SPYuvraj Singh(Captain), Robin Uthappa(Wicket-Keeper), Ashish Nehra, Murali Kartik, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Bhuvenshwar Kumar, Dheeraj Jadhav, Ekalavya Dwivedi, Ganesh Gaikwad, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Harshad Khadiwale, Kamran Khan, Manish Pandey, Mithun Manhas, Mohnish MIshra, Rahul Sharma, Sachin Rana, Shrikant Wagh, Shrikant Mundhe, Imtiyaz Ahmed (Foreign) Graeme Smith, Tim Paine, Angelo Mathews, Nathan McCullum, Callum Ferguson, Wayne Parnell, Mitchell Marsh, Jerome Taylor, Alfonso Thomas, Jesse Ryder.Geoff Marsh(Coach)

Punjab, on the other hand, also have revamped their side. With former Deccan Chargers skipper Adam Gilchrist as their captain, Kings although short of star power which was very much present till last season.They very much KXIP ADAMdepend on heroics of Gilchrist to provide them a quick start that can be carried forward by Shaun Marsh, David Hussey, Dinesh Karthik and Paras Dogra. All-round abilities of Ryan McLaren and Hussey give their side the much-needed stability. Punjab's bowling can be a surprise factor as they have a good combination of swing and pace upfront. Praveen Kumar's ability to swing the ball while Australian quickie Ryan Harris can bowl with incredible pace is known to everybody. Another Australian Nathan Remmington will add variety to the Kings XI Punjab attack with his accurate medium pace.Piyush Chawla and Bipul Sharma could be the spinners team management can opt for, while Abhishek Nayar may also be useful with his gentle medium pacers.

Team Info:

Kings XI Punjab

KXIPDinesh Karthik(Wicket-Keeper), Abhishek Nayar, Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla, Bhargav Bhatt, Bipul Sharma, Love Ablish, Mandeep Singh, Nitin Saini, Paras Dogra, Paul Valthaty, Shalabh Srivastava, Siddharth Chitnis, Sunny Singh, Vikramjeet Malik, Amit Yadav, (Foreign) Adam Gilchrist (Captain/Wicket-Keeper), Shaun Marsh, David Hussey, Stuart Broad, Ryan Harris, Dimitri Masceranhas, Nathan Remington.Michael Bevan(Coach)

In all, an exciting contest is on the cards as both teams would like to start their campaigns with wins under their belts.

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CSK clinched cliffhanger from KKR. DC will take on RR and Kochi will face RCB challenge

 

IPL Inaugration

Everything is going Mahi’s way. After brilliant World Cup victory, MS Dhoni once again pulled out miracle victory over KKR in IPL 4 opening game at Chennai after glittering opening ceremony. IPL 4 kick-started in style with the thriller. Captain Cool kept his nerves and did everything possible to beat Gambhir’s KnightMahis. On the other hand after brilliant beginning to the modest chase KKR faltered badly as they lost wickets in a hurry and finally KKR lost by just 2 runs. Junior Srikkanth played brilliant inniings for CSK and given them platform to build par score on a pitch which was turning square. Junior Srikkanth have to thank a lot to Yusuf Pathan who dropped him early on and that proved expensive for KKR. In the last over Albie Morkel’s lusty hitting took CSK score past 150 which proved winning score for CSK in the end.

It was surprising that Gambhir came into bat after 5 down. Certainly Shahrukh & co. wouldn’t have expected this move of Gambhir for whom KKR paid highest price.It looked IPLWICKETlike Gambhir was tired after his World Cup effort and wanted some rest.  Yusuf Pathan who fetched second highest price in auction also failed to do justice to his price and dropped 2 important catches and didn’t score required runs as well even after getting promotion to bat at No.3. Kallis batted brilliantly and till the time he was on crease hopes were alive for KKR but poor running between the wicket. Poor shot selection by Kallis and hopeless fielding and catching played important role in KKR's defeat against CSK.

Loser ShahrukhShahrukh Khan must be thinking what else he have to do to win IPL . He changed captain, Management and almost entire team,  yet his mis-fortune continues.Although its too early to predict anything as lot of matches remaining for the KKR and hopefully they will win them.


DC will take on RR

IPL Title 6

DCRR2nd  edition IPL Champion Deccan Chargers Hyderabad will take on inaugural IPL champion Rajasthan Royals. It’s a battle between two  former champions.

Rajasthan failed to buy players of their liking at the auction due to limited purse. But good thing for them is that they were able to retain their magical captain Shane Warne who inspire them to win the inaugural IPL trophy. Rajasthan although failed to buy enough players but they still have very formidable side which includes the likes RRJubilantof Rahul Dravid, Ross Taylor, Shane Watson, Johan Botha. Shane Watson will miss initial round of IPL due to ongoing series between Australia and Bangladesh. But still Rajasthan can win the games because they have capable players to do so. It’s a brilliant opportunity for the young domestic players like Deepak Chahar and Pankaj Singh to impress the selectors with their performance in IPL. Remember Deepak Chahar and Pankaj Singh played important role in Rajasthan’s Ranji triumph this season. Both were among highest wicket-takers in Ranji season. So Team India have the chance to get fresh bowling ammunition from this IPL.

Team Info:

Rajasthan Royals

RRRahul Dravid, Pankaj Singh, Aakash Chopra, Abhishek Raut, Aditya Dole, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Paunikar, Ashok Menaria, Deepak Chahar, Dishant Yagnik, Faiz Fazal, Nayan Doshi, Pinal Shah, Samad Fallah, Siddharth Trivedi, Stuart Binny, Amit Singh, Dinesh Salunkhe, Swapnil Asnodkar, Sumit Narwal, Ankeet Chavan (Foreign) Shane Warne, Shane Watson, Ross Taylor, Johan Botha, Paul Collingwood, Shaun Tait.Shane Warne(Coach/Captain).

DC has undergone great changes this year. Adam Gilchrist, the captain who help them in winning 2nd edition of IPL will be captaining Kings XI Punjab this year. So they will have new capDC Championstain in Kumar Sangakkara. With the loss of batting stars like Adam Gilchrist, Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds, Deccan don't look that formidable and they would hope that their new players get them off to a winning start.Their new skipper Kumar Sangakkara, who stepped down from captaincy after Sri Lanka's loss to India in the World Cup final, is in good form and would hope that players like JP Duminy and Michael Lumb help the side to start its campaign on a high. Pietersen pulled out of the World Cup to undergo a hernia surgery and is still recovering from it. The English batsman will miss the entire season for the Chargers.White, on the other hand, is part of the Aussie squad playing three-match ODI series in Bangladesh. Deccan looks vulnerable in the batting department.  But their bowling looks strong as the world's fastest bowler Dale Steyn is up in their rank. He can be supported by Indian pacers Ishant Sharma, who played for the Kolkata Knight Riders till last season, and Manpreet Gony, who was a part of Chennai Super Kings' squad. Meanwhile, Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha will be the options in the spin department.

Team Info:

Deccan Chargers

DCHShikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra, Manpreet Gony, Akash Bhandari, Anand Rajan, Ankit Nagendra, Arjun Yadav, Ashish Reddy, Bharat Chipli, DB Ravi Teja, Harmeet Singh Bansal, Ishank Jaggi, Ishan Malhotra, Jaydev Shah, Kedar Devdhar, Sunny Sohal (Foreign) Kumar Sangakkara (Captain/Wicket-Keeper), Kevin Pietersen, Cameron White, JP Duminy, Dale Steyn, Daniel Christian, Chris Lynn, Juan Theron, Michael Lumb.Darren Lehmann(Coach)

So watch the battle of champions in IPL today at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.


Kochi will face RCB challenge

RCKTToday’s second game will be between Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Kochi Tuskers Kerala is new entrant in IPL. Although team belongs to Kerala but its promoters are Gujaratis. This team had lot of controversy surrounded around it and they were almost rejected due to some irregularities in its formation. Cabinet minister Shashi Tharoor lost his ministry because of this team. But finally Kochi franchisee got little life-line from IPL governing body and now they are here.

Kochi, one of the two new teams in this year's IPL, will be led by Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene with Geoff Lawson being the coach. On paper this team doesn’t look that formidable. Although it has names like Kochi IPL Team VVS Laxman, S.Sreesanth, Brendon McCullum. It also has Players like Parthiv Patel, Brad Hodge, Owais Shah and above all recently retired Sri Lankan legendary spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. Ravindra Jadeja who was banned from IPL last season will also feature in this team and it is great platform for him to get back into the Indian team. Bowling looks far more formidable as S.Sreesanth will spearhead the bowling attack and he will be supported  by R.Vinakumar, Muralitharan, and highest wicket-taker of IPL RP Singh.

Team Info:

Kochi Tuskers

KTVVS Laxman, S Sreesanth, RP Singh, Parthiv Patel(Wicket-Keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Ramesh Powar, R Vinay Kumar, B Akhil, Chandan Madan, Deepak Chowghule, Kedar Jadhav, Raiphi Gomez, Sushant Marathe, Tanmay Srivastava, Y Gnanswara Rao, Yashpal Singh, Prashant Padmanabahan, (Foreign) Mahela Jayawardene (Captain), Brendon McCullum(Wicket-Keeper), Steven Smith, Muttiah Muralitharan, Brad Hodge, Thisara Perera, Steve O'Keefe, Owais Shah, Michael Klinger, John Hastings. Jeff Lawson(Coach)

Talking about RCB, they will be captained by the former Kiwi skipper RCB123Daniel Vettori. RCB retained only Virat Kohli from their last year’s team. So RCB has also gone under makeover. Compare to Kochi they are far more strong side on the paper. They have likes of AB de Villiers, Tillakaratane Dilshan, Virat Kohli, Saurabh Tiwary, Zaheer Khan, Dirk Nannes, which makes them far more superior compare to their opponents. Dilshan, after a brilliant World Cup where he finished as the tournament's top scorer, is most likely to open the innings for Challengers. Zaheer Khan will spear head their bowling attack and that gives them big edge over other teams because Zaheer is in superb bowling form right now and bowling at his very best. Even after having formidable team and legendary Kumble at the helm of the affairs, RCB failed to win the IPL title in last 3 seasons. They reached the finals in 2nd edition  but lost to Deccan Chargers. So this year they will be determined to win the title after failing to win it thrice.

Team Info:

Royal Challengers Bangalore

RCDaniel Vettori (Captain), Virat Kohli, Tillakaratne Dilshan, AB De Villiers (wicket-keeper), Zaheer Khan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Dirk Nannes, Saurabh Tiwary, Mohammad Kaif, Abhimanyu Mithun, Charl Langeveldt, Luke Pomersbach, Rilee Rossouw, Johan van der Wath, Jonathan Vandiar, CM Gautam (Wicket-Keeper), S Arvind, Mayank Agarwal, Arun Karthick, Asad Khan Pathan, Abrar Kazi, Ryan Ninan, Bhareth Narayanan, Nuwan Pradeep.Ray Jennings(Coach)

So edge is with RCB in this match and it will be interesting to see how Kochi performs against formidable team like RCB.