Chennai set for humdinger

Match facts

Saturday, April 26, 2008
Start time 16.00 (local), 10.30 (GMT)

The Big Picture

The top-of-the-table Kolkata Knight Riders have made a rousing start to their IPL campaign, but they will face a stiff challenge from the Chennai Super Kings, who, like them, are unbeaten after two rounds of matches. The feature match of the weekend assumes added significance as both teams stand to lose out on their trans-Tasman recruits at the end of the month as commitments to their respective national teams bring their Indian sojourn to an end.

Watch out for ...

... another highly productive day for the batsmen. Kolkata's thrust will be led by Brendon McCullum, who will want to wrest the 'orange cap' - worn by the highest cumulative run-scorer in the tournament, from Kumar Sangakkara. Ricky Ponting is yet to fire, and his probable duel with Muttiah Muralitharan will be one to watch. Ishant Sharma has lived up to his US$950,000 billing but he faces his first real test against a formidable batting line-up. Chennai's captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, will be keen to match the batting exploits of his peers. Matthew Hayden, after his masterly 81 against the Mumbai Indians, is another potential match-winner.

Team news

This will be Kolkata's penultimate match where they can use the services of McCullum and Ponting, but David Hussey will stay on as he is not part of Australia's Test squad. While Kolkata have the option of using Umar Gul, the Pakistan seamer, Mohammad Hafeez's all-round abilities may ensure he retains his place.

Kolkata: 1 Sourav Ganguly (capt) 2 Brendon McCullum 3 Ricky Ponting 4 David Hussey 5 Mohammad Hafeez 6 Laxmi Ratan Shukla 7 Wriddhiman Saha (wk)8 Ajit Agarkar 9 Ashok Dinda 10 Murali Kartik 11 Ishant Sharma

Michael Hussey and Hayden, along with Ponting, will leave India on May 1 for a preparatory camp ahead of the West Indies series. Chennai's batsmen have clicked in both matches, but their bowlers have been on the expensive side. P Amarnath, the right-arm seamer, was taken for a record 57 runs in his four overs by Mumbai, and he may be benched in favour of the offspinner, R Ashwin.

Chennai: (probable)1 Parthiv Patel 2 Matthew Hayden 3 Michael Hussey 4 Suresh Raina 5 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt and wk) 6 Jacob Oram 7 S Badrinath 8 Joginder Sharma 9 R Ashwin 10 Manpreet Gony 11 Muttiah Muralitharan

Kolkata's bowlers figure in the top three slots for the best overall economy-rate, strike-rates and averages in the IPL

Quotes

"I made it a point to mingle with all the youngsters here and pass on my knowledge of the game to them."
Ponting plays a mentoring role within the Kolkata team