The absence of Australian players — Mike Hussey and Matthew Hayden — and Kiwi Jacob Oram gives Yuvraj a perfect chance not only to avenge the defeat but strengthen their chances of making the semifinals.

With 10 points in their kitty, the Punjab team is on top of the standings while the hosts are placed third.

The Punjab skipper would also look to fire as he is yet to come up with a sterling innings in the tournament. He has aggregated 170 runs from seven matches, the highest being 57.

Dhoni would also be eyeing a semifinal spot. The skipper is in good touch as he has scored 229 runs from eight matches with a strike rate of 145.45.

Besides Dhoni, local lads S Badrinath and Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan have been among runs and young guns would again need to show maturity to help their team’s cause.

After two poor outings with the bat, former New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming made a welcome return to form with a fine 44 against Delhi Daredevils on Friday.

The bowling department of the visitors looks better with the pace trio of Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth, VRV Singh and leg-spinner Piyush Chawla. The hosts will rely on pacers Laxmipathy Balaji and Manpreet Singh Gony.

The pitch has been batsmen-friendly so far and another tall scoring match cannot be ruled out.

Yuvraj and his men had a strenuous three-hour net practice session on Friday, while the hosts, who returned home after their four-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils on Thursday, remained indoors.

Yuvi confident

Injury may have ruled out their in-form opener Kumar Sangakkara, but Yuvraj said his team had the balance to remain unaffected by the Sri Lankan’s absence.

Speaking to the media here after the team’s practice session, Yuvraj said Sangakkara would take at least another week to recover from a side strain.

The Sri Lankan has been the Kings XI batting mainstay, having top-scored with 203 runs (94 highest) from six matches. “However, we have a balanced team with a strong batting line-up and we hope to do well against the Super Kings tomorrow,” he asserted.

Yuvraj’s team has had a good tournament so far with five successive wins after losses in the first two matches.

“It’s all in the past. How we play tomorrow is what matters. Initially, we took time to get used to each other.

“After we lost the first two games, we sat down and assigned roles to each player and worked out a strategy.

We have a fairly good combination now,” he said. Yuvraj also refused to speak on the opposition and said his side would focus on their own strengths rather than think about the strategies the Super Kings might adopt.

Kings XI coach Tom Moody echoed Yuvraj’s views and said the Punjab team had the right balance. “I am happy with the balance of the team and we have good all-round strength. We will be naming the playing eleven tomorrow,” he said.