PL 2015 LIVE SCORE: Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings,
Welcome to the LIVE coverage of Match 53 in the 2015 Indian Premier League (IPL) between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings from the Punjab Cricket Association stadium in Mohali. Scorecard
Toss: Kings XI Punjab won the toss and elected to bat against Chennai Super Kings.
After a humdinger last night in Hyderabad, the IPL bandwagon now moves to Mohali, where the two Kings - Punjab and Chennai, will lock horns in their final league game. Chennai have already qualified for the playoffs, while Punjab have already been confirmed as the wooden spoon holders.
Chennai though have other things to look forward to. If they win today, they will move to 18 points and that will cement their place at the top of the points table, meaning they'll get two chances to reach the final this time around. On the other hand, Punjab are playing for some pride and they wouldn't mind finishing their disappointing season on a high.
In their last game against Bangalore, Punjab showed us why they can't be taken lightly even though they are languishing at the bottom of the table. In a game curtailed by rain, Punjab managed to score 106 runs in their 10 overs. Their bowlers then came to the party as they restricted a strong Bangalore batting line-up to 84/6, winning the game by 22 runs.
Chennai's last outing was an affair to forget. Playing against the seventh placed Delhi, Chennai's batting failed miserably and they could only muster 119 runs in 20 overs. In reply, Shreyas Iyer and Yuvraj Singh starred with the bat and helped the Delhi win by 6 wickets. Chennai though are a formidable unit and it will be a mistake to count them out because of a loss in their last game.
Team News(from):
Kings XI Punjab
Punjab experimented with Wriddhiman Saha in the opening slot to great effect against the Bangalore and will be tempted to play the same opening combination in a full game. That move should allow Glenn Maxwell, who has a fine record against the men in yellow, to take up his favoured No. 3 slot, a position that is expected to rekindle happier memories for the Australian. Meanwhile, Beuran Hendricks' bowling effort from two nights ago may just edge Thissara Perera out.
Chennai Super Kings
Not known to chop and change too much, Chennai will be expected to field a largely similar team. Ashish Nehra is likely to return in place of Ishwar Pandey after missing the game against Delhi with the flu. The think-tank could consider bringing in Michael Hussey for Brendon McCullum (scheduled to fly back at the end of the league stage) or run the risk of the former Australian cricketer playing his first game of the season straight in the knockouts.
Stat-Attack:
Glenn Maxwell scored 71 runs off 27 balls against R Ashwin in IPL 2014 at a strike-rate of 262.96.
MS Dhoni is 83 short of recording 3000 IPL runs. He will become only the second CHN batsman, after Suresh Raina, to achieve the feat.
Quotes:
"The most important thing is that we don't chop and change the team. We try and stick to a core of players. Therefore the camaraderie and the team unity is there and that's most important." - Dwayne Bravo reiterates Chennai's success-mantra.
"I have made my India debut but I can't just sit on that. I would like to continue being part of the team. So the IPL is important to me from that point of view as well. And then, the World T20 is also there, so in that sense too, performing well in the IPL is important" - Axar Patel talks about the importance of keeping up the good performances.
Teams(from):
Kings XI Punjab: Manan Vohra, Murali Vijay, Wriddhiman Saha(wk), Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, George Bailey(c), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Axar Patel, Beuran Hendricks, Anureet Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Rishi Dhawan, Karanveer Singh, Parvinder Awana, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Sharma, Thisara Perera, Virender Sehwag, Nikhil Naik, Yogesh Golwalkar
Chennai Super Kings: Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, MS Dhoni(c/wk), Pawan Negi, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishwar Pandey, Mohit Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Baba Aparajith, Matt Henry, Mithun Manhas, Samuel Badree, Ronit More, Michael Hussey, Rahul Sharma, Kyle Abbott, Ankush Bains, Irfan Pathan, Pratyush Singh, Andrew Tye, Eklavya Dwivedi
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