Australian second-string set for battle

Match facts

Saturday May 3, 2008
Start time 20.00 (local), 14.30 (GMT)

The Big Picture

It's a battle between one team on the rise and another on the slide: Kings XI Punjab have strung together three wins in a row after the opening two reverses while the Kolkata Knight Riders appear to have lost their way after two early victories. Punjab's comfortable win against the Deccan Chargers showed they had the quality to overcome the loss of Simon Katich and Brett Lee but Kolkata are yet to prove they can shrug off the absence of their top international stars.

The game will showcase some relatively unknown Australians: Shaun Marsh made a fine impression on his IPL debut while James Hopes, if fit, provides some valuable fire-power. Brad Hodge's innings was cut short in Jaipur but he comes with the reputation of being a Twenty20 killer. David Hussey is yet to explode and can't choose a better stage to showcase his entire range, one that has made him a big name in the Australian domestic circuit.

Watch out for ...

... Sourav Ganguly v Yuvraj Singh provides an intriguing clash between the senior and the apprentice. There could also be an interesting tussle between the two pace attacks - VRV Singh and Sreesanth up against Ishant Sharma, Umar Gul and the surprisingly nippy Ashok Dinda. For those inclined towards Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan v Preity Zinta may make for an interesting spectacle.

Team news

Punjab may want to stick to a winning combination, though Hopes' fitness could make them think about a change. There was a doubt over how they would make up for Brett Lee's absence but Gagandeep Singh turned in a reasonably good show the other night.

Punjab (probable) 1 Shaun Marsh, 2 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Yuvraj Singh (capt), 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Tanmay Srivastava, 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 Gagandeep Singh, 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Sreesanth, 11 VRV Singh.

Salman Butt and Hodge are likely to retain their spots, despite doing little in their first games. Murali Kartik, who was surprisingly left out of the previous match, could expect a recall at the expense of Ajit Agarkar.

Kolkata (probable) 1 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 2 Salman Butt, 3 Brad Hodge, 4 David Hussey, 5 Debabrata Das, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Laxmi Ratan Shukla, 8 Umar Gul, 9 Murali Kartik, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Ashok Dinda.

Kolkata Knight Riders: WLLL
Kings XI Punjab: LWWW

Dinda's economy rate of 5.52 is the best among bowlers who have sent down at least five overs in the IPL. Kolkata are the only team with three bowlers - Mohammad Hafeez and Ishant are the other two - who have an economy rate of less than 6.50.

"This is not a team issue. I suppose it has been discussed by the IPL officials. We have moved beyond that (incident). We want to concentrate on our cricket and win the game Saturday."
John Buchanan, Kolkata's coach, washes his hands off the on-field controversy surrounding Ganguly.