Week 8 - Match 1 - Kings XI Punjab vs Pune Warriors

Welcome to the Mohali Stadium, home of the Kings XI Punjab.

Pitch Conditions: A fast bowling haven, this pitch will aid any bowler who can bowl with real pace. The slower bowlers won't necessarily find much purchase but may be able to take wickets if the batsman see them as an easier target to hit that the pace bowlers. Should be a relatively low scoring affair.


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Please post tactics below...

not a great pitch for me, need to make some serious selection decisions. James Pattinson could well make his debut as he's pretty nippish. Considering leaving out Umar Akmal too, as the quicker pitches are not the ones he most enjoys batting on. On the plus side, Pune's batting is stacked with Indians who may not enjoy these conditions, while KP and Kieswetter should.

Possible XI
Kieswetter
Gambhir
KP
Ganguly
RTD
Chitnis
Bresnan
Ajit Agarkar
James Pattinson
Rahul Sharma
Ashish Nehra

Time to unleash Shaun Tait JD.

Considering Jerome Taylor aswell for this one, and having a pace trio of Dernbach, Taylor and Tait...

And you are only allowed one bouncer an over in T20, my Indian guys won't struggle too much!

Kohli and Rahane can play off the back foot as well.

jd i think alfonso thomas has to play. He is one of the best t20 bowlers in the world, his yorkers are fantastic and has a great bowling brain.

JDizzle wrote:Considering Jerome Taylor aswell for this one, and having a pace trio of Dernbach, Taylor and Tait...

And you are only allowed one bouncer an over in T20, my Indian guys won't struggle too much!

Why would you play a bowler who bowls only slower balls on a bouncy pitch?

Because when he cracks it through he can bowl 90mph plus. And on this sort of pitch, it is exactly what I would be expecting him to do. And his slower ball will be an even greater weapon on a pitch where the batsmen are expecting it around their ears.

JDizzle wrote:Because when he cracks it through he can bowl 90mph plus. And on this sort of pitch, it is exactly what I would be expecting him to do. And his slower ball will be an even greater weapon on a pitch where the batsmen are expecting it around their ears.

Good point

Provisional XI

Valthaty
Rahane
Kohli
Yuvraj
Buttler
Tiwary
Mathews
Swann
Tait
Dernbach
Unadkat

Matthews at 7 is low mate. He could bat above buttler with buttler playing the finishing role maybe?

Agree with CF :thumb

also i would have thomas in there for Unadakat, but its up to you obivously mate

I would have Thomas in their for Unadkat to, but I need to fulfill my quote of Indians so Unadkat has to play unfortunately!

Pune side:

Valthaty
Rahane
Kohli
Yuvraj
Mathews
Buttler
Saruabh Tiwary
Shrikant Mundhe
Swann
Dernbach
Tait

Toss: Bowl first

If I win the toss I will bowl first and try to blow Kings XI with my attack that is suited to this wicket well. I will open with the raw pace of Tait who will love this wicket and be unplayable on it and with Dernbach who can crack 90mph when he wants and his slower ball will be more effective when the batsmen are expecting it to be quick. Then I will introduce Mathews into the attack after Dernbach, and whilst he is my "fifth bowler" he the pressure of early wickets will not allow Kings to get after him too much and he is a canny bowler so will be able to get through his overs quickly and cheaply. And then in the middle overs I will turn to Swann and Yuvraj to stem the scoring rate. Although the pitch doesn't suit him, Swann will adapt and if the batsman come at him it will play into his hands and he will love it. Yuvraj is another good T20 bowler who will relish the batsmen coming at him, viewing him as the weak link. And then at the death Tait and Dernbach will come back and be incredibly hard to play.

Tait - 1, 3, 18, 20
Dernbach - 2, 4, 17, 19
Mathews - 5, 7, 14, 16
Yuvraj - 6, 8, 10, 12
Swann - 9, 11, 13, 15

Mundhe can also bowl if required.

Batting: I bat very deep, with Swann at 9 so I have plenty of reserves in the batting department if I do have a collapse. I also have Buttler in my side and he has proven himself on the big day on finals days so he is the perfect man to guide my team over the line in a tricky chase. But any one of my top 7 has the ability to win the game on their own.

I am sorry JD but I think you are wrong about Swann.Swann doesnt love the batsmen going after him.He doesnt respond well to an onslaught.This summer when Dravid attacked him,he had no answers.Last winter,when Hussey was on top of him,he looked clueless.

He doesnt apapt well to non turning pitches IMO.
Examples?
Headingely Test 2009
Trent Bridge Test 2011
Perth Test 2010
Brisbane 2010
Delhi ODI 2011

I am a Swanny fan but I think you are slightly overhyping him.He isnt that good.

Sorry

swann has always said, as has his team mates, that he loves it when batsman go after him.

however i do feel that swann is a much better test bowler than he is odi bowler.

cricketfan90 wrote:swann has always said, as has his team mates, that he loves it when batsman go after him.

So we should listen to what he says rather than his performances.

Or you could get your own tactics up shanky...

Gregers wrote:Or you could get your own tactics up shanky...

I am trying to win this game, I am not going to come out and say if they attack him Swann will be garbage am I!

And Dravid and Hussey are two of the best players of spin in world cricket, you can't really hold it against Swann that much that two great players of spin got after him a bit on pitches that offered no help to him.

JD dont worry about what he says mate, everyone bigs their team up

although i havent this time i have a 2nd string side out lol

sorry about the delay

Team:
Gambhir
Kieswetter (wk)
Pietersen (capt.)
Ganguly
Ten Doeschate
Chitnis
Bresnan
Bipul Sharma
Rahul Sharma
James Pattinson
Nehra

selection:
Umar Akmal left out due to the nature of the pitch, and some indifferent form. In his place comes in exciting young Ausie international James Pattinson whose pace should be useful on this pitch. Also, Nehra replaces Murali Karthik due once again to the nature of the pitch.

Toss: bowl first, restrict Pune to a low score and chase it down.

Bowling tactics:
Bresnan and Nehra to open up. Pattinson comes on for Bresnan after a couple of overs. Pune's batting is stacked with sub-continent players who won't be comfortable on this pitch. Valthaty, Kohli and Yuvraj have all struggled with the short ball in the past and our trio of pacemen will be sure to give them a good workover. Middle-overs will be mostly bowled by R. Sharma and RTD, with B. Sharma also able to chip in with an over or two. Bresnan and Pattinson are my death bowlers.

Over allocation:
Bresnan (1,3,18,20)
Nehra (2,4,6,16)
Pattinson (5,7,9,19)
RTD (8,10,12)
R.Sharma (11,13,15,17)
B.Sharma (14)

Batting tactics:
Gambhir to play the anchor, with the rest of the top order playing around him. Kieswetter and Pietersen were brought in SA and have played most of their subsequent cricket in England so will relish these conditions. RTD also learnt his cricket in England, so that's three of my top five who are great in these conditions, as well as being some of the best T20 batsmen in the world. Tait will bowl some loose balls which we will look to punish, and we will also look to get after Yuvraj, as if we hit him out of the attack they don't have any back-up. Sensible aggression against the other bowlers is the order of the day. We bat deep with a genuine all-rounder Bipul Sharma at 8, and on a tricky pitch this could be useful.

Is this just a fast and bouncy pitch or will there be swing and seam movement as well?

I'm not sure to be honest. I wouldn't imagine so(or at least not too much), as it says slower bowlers won't have as much success, and I take this to mean medium pacers who rely on a bit of nip will struggle, which implies no seam/swing, but I odn't really know!

Should have played Gilly on this surface opening the innings rather than Buttler at 7.

Na, already got plenty of firepower up top. Needed a finisher at 7.

JDizzle wrote:Na, already got plenty of firepower up top. Needed a finisher at 7.

Might struggle a bit on this surface.

I think he is good enough to adapt. A prime Gilly would be the obvious choice, but he isn't the same player he used to be. Slower reactions come with age and won't help him on a quick pitch like this.