IPL 7 KKR vs. KXIP: Can Sunil Narine weave his magic against the marauding hitters of KXIP?

With the IPL season starting to pick up pace, we are already seeing some teams emerge as early leaders. At the top of the table lie Kings XI Punjab, unbeaten in their three encounters so far, all of which they have won convincingly. 2012 champions Kolkata, on the other hand, have had a more subdued start, with a loss to Delhi sandwiched between two wins of their own. When these teams meet each other in the second fixture tomorrow, all eyes will undoubtedly be on the contest between the batsmen of Punjab, who are in formidable form, and the bowlers of Kolkata, more specifically their spin department.

As everyone following the IPL will agree, the Punjab batting lineup this year has so far been the best in the competition, churning out consistent performances right from game one. They are led by the brilliant Glenn Maxwell, who on current form surely gives every bowler nightmares.  In their three matches so far, they have regularly managed to cross the 190 run mark. In their first game, they chased down 204 against Chennai thanks to a blistering 95 from Maxwell aided by a timely 50 from David Miller. The pair continued their fine form in the second game, with a 45-ball 89 by Maxwell and a 51* by Miller getting them over the line against Rajasthan. In this game, Pujara also shone in an anchoring role with a fine unbeaten 40, allowing the other batsmen to break free. In their third game, they were sent in to bat first, but it made no difference. Pujara and Sehwag got them off to a quick start and from then on it was the Maxwell show, as he smashed his way to a 43-ball 95 as Punjab posted a target of 193.

With Pujara more than capable of sticking around to anchor the innings, Sehwag slowly finding his touch, and Miller and Maxwell in dangerous form, the Punjab batting seems set to make several more high scores in the matches to come.

The Kolkata team on the other hand has been a bit patchy so far, with a 42 run win in the first match against Mumbai followed by a loss to Delhi in a match that went to the last over and a thrilling 2 run win over Bangalore in their latest game. Their batting has been average, with 160 being their par score. Their strength has been their bowling department, and as such they have preferred to make their opponents chase the game. Their bowling ace is undoubtedly the West Indian Sunil Narine, who has constantly impressed with the ball since first appearing in the IPL three years ago. In the first game when Kolkata thrashed Mumbai, Narine returned figures of 4-20 in his allotted overs to strangle the Mumbai batting and win Kolkata the game. In the other games too he was treated with great respect by the opposition batsmen, returning figures of 1-18 and 1-17 respectively. He is one of the most economical bowlers in the world right now and justly feared by batsmen, and he regularly provides the crucial breakthrough when his team most needs it.

With bowlers like Umesh Yadav and Vinay Kumar also coming good with the ball, along with wily veteran Jacques Kallis, the Kolkata bowling unit retains the capability to successfully defend even average scores, or even restrict the opposition batting to a subpar total.

Punjab will feel like they have the better chance for victory, as they just need to continue what they have been doing. Their top four have seen plenty of the ball and with Sehwag and Pujara seeming in good touch that means Maxwell and Miller might get a nice platform to go out and play with confidence. However, below these four, the Punjab batting is somewhat untested in this tournament, with only George Bailey and Wriddhiman Saha playing as recognized batsmen, neither of whom has had much match practice. The lower order can contribute some big hits, but Punjab relies on one of their top order batsmen to fire in order to reach a big total.

The Kolkata unit will have to plan carefully going into this match, as they simply have to restrict the Punjab batting to have a fighting chance. While their seamers are usually economical, against the Punjab team it is early wickets that truly matter and for that the captain will have to rotate his bowlers shrewdly. Gambhir prefers to save Narine for the second half of the innings, but against Punjab we may see a change in strategy, because if he lets the big hitters like Maxwell and Miller get set in the middle, there is little anyone can do to prevent a large score. As such, we may see him use his pacers to try to get an early breakthrough and introduce Narine while the big guns are still new and vulnerable at the crease, to dismiss them as quickly as possible.

It will eventually turn into a battle of tactics, as Punjab may shuffle their batting order to counter the threat of Narine, perhaps sending out Bailey higher up the order, while Gambhir will undoubtedly hold his trump card in reserve to use against the most dangerous opposition batsmen. It remains to be seen if this tactic will work, since even though the pitches are supposed to favor the spinners, Maxwell was particularly severe on Hyderabad leggie Amit Mishra in the last game, taking 56 runs off his 4 overs.

Whichever way this contest pans out, it promises to be an exciting watch for the neutrals and a fascinating battle of wits between the two opposing captains.