JOIN USConfident Royals face mercurial Knight Riders
Under Shane Warne, the Royals have started their IPL IV campaign in great style, comfortably defeating Deccan Chargers and the Delhi Daredevils by eight and four wickets respectively in their first two games. And Watson, who was in destructive form against Bangladesh in the just-concluded three-match ODI series, will further strengthen Rajasthan’s batting as well as add sting to the bowling department. Watson scored a mammoth 294 runs against Bangaldesh, which included a whirlwind 185 not out in the second ODI, which included a record 15 sixes.
Rajasthan’s batting has been the cornerstone of their victories in the opening two matches with South African Johan Botha playing the lead role with unbeaten knocks of 67 and 39. Watson, in all probability, will replace Shaun Tait and open the batting along with ever-dependable Rahul Dravid. Warne is spoilt for choice as far as his foreign quota is concerned. Apart from himself, he has Tait, Watson, Johan Botha and Ross taylor to choose from.
However, with only four foreigners allowed to feature in the playing XI, Warne has few problems as he himself, Botha and Taylor are certain to play on Friday. In that scenario, tearaway pacer Shaun Tait and Jacob Oram will have to sit out.
The Knight Riders, on the other hand, have so far had a mixed bag tournament with one win (by nine runs against Deccan Chargers) and a loss (by two runs against Chennai Super Kings). But consistency is something what the Knight Riders would be eyeing to achieve as they take on Rajasthan.
On the batting front, Manvinder Bisla and the in-form Jacques Kallis, who scored back-to-back half centuries, have been solid up the order but the middle and lower half barring Manoj Tiwary hasn’t really been impressive.
However, the KKR batsmen made up for the Chennai mess with a strong performance against Deccan Chargers.
With big names like skipper Gautam Gambhir, Yusuf Pathan, Tiwary, Eoin Morgan, Kallis and Dutchman Ryan ten Doeschate up their ranks, the Knight Riders boast of a formidable batting line-up. But what the KKR would be looking for is the right balance in their bowling attack, which looks like lacking a bit of sting.
In the absence of an out-and-out pacer, the Knight Riders depended on veteran Laxmipathy Balaji to deliver the goods up front in the last two matches but he disappointed. However, young left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdullah has been a revelation with the new ball, picking up four wickets so far giving away just six runs per over. But with the return of Australian speedster Brett Lee, all-rounder James Pattinson and Bangladesh captain Shakib-al-Hasan, the Knight Riders’ bowling department has got the much-needed boost.