Deccan look to break home jinx

Match facts

Sunday, May 11, 2008
Start time 16.00 (local), 10.30 (GMT)

The Big Picture

The last time these two teams played each other, the pitch at Eden Gardens took centrestage as the ball kicked up, scooted low, jagged around, and in general made life miserable for the batsmen. VVS Laxman hit out at the surface after his team was at the wrong end of the result, but here his team have a chance to avenge that defeat, and more importantly, inject some momentum into what has so far been a disastrous campaign - with two wins in eight games, they are sitting at the bottom of the table and each of their last six matches are virtually must-win games for them.

Kolkata arrested a worrying four-match slide with a thrilling five-run win against Bangalore, but the fact that the worst team in the tournament pushed them all the way remains a cause for worry, as does the fact that the batting hasn't yet inspired any confidence yet. They have played one less game than Deccan, though, and a win on Sunday will put them on eight points from as many games, and in a good position to push for a semi-final spot.

Both teams will also have to battle their unfavourable home and away records. Deccan have lost all three games at home, while Kolkata have lost three out of four away matches. Deccan also have a huge problem when batting first: they have lost all five games when setting a target, and most of those defeats have been convincing ones.

Tournament position

Deccan Chargers P8, W2, L6, NRR -0.240
Kolkata Knight Riders P7, W3, L4, NRR +0.461

IPL form (last five matches)

Deccan Chargers: LWLLW
Kolkata Knight Riders: WLLLL

Watch out for ...

Adam Gilchrist versus Kolkata's impressive new-ball attack of Ishant Sharma and Ashok Dinda, who have both been among the wickets.

Team news

Deccan's batting has been a huge worry - they've depended far too much on Rohit Sharma and Adam Gilchrist, and they could do with more contributions from Herschelle Gibbs, Shahid Afridi and Scott Styris, three foreign stars who have contributed little so far. The bowling was lacklustre in the previous game, and Chaminda Vaas could return to the squad to bolster the attack.

Deccan Chargers: 1 Adam Gilchrist (capt & wk), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Venugopal Rao, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 Shahid Afridi, 6 Ravi Teja, 7 Sanjay Bangar, 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 RP Singh, 10 Pragyan Ojha, 11 DP Vijaykumar.

Kolkata have included Shoaib Akhtar in their 14-man squad, but he might find it difficult to break into the XI, considering how well their pace attack has performed. Murali Kartik's position might be jeopardy after an ordinary performance with the ball against Bangalore, but his vital runs in that match might just give him another opportunity. Salman Butt is almost certain to get a game, after Brad Hodge left the IPL to join the Australian team on their tour to the West Indies.

Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Aakash Chopra, 2 Salman Butt, 3 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 4 David Hussey, 5 Tatenda Taibu, 6 Laxmi Ratan Shukla, 7 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 8 Murali Kartik, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Ashok Dinda.

"One can't take the Chargers lightly. They have Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs, Shahid Afridi, and any one of them can turn the game around."
David Hussey warns his team-mates against complacency