Tuesday 9 April 2013

Reinforced Super Kings

          
  For Kings XI, it was a near-perfect display. There were disciplined with the ball, energetic with the bat and electric in the field. Parvinder Awana bowled possibly the delivery of the IPL so far, angling in and moving across Angelo Mathews to have him caught behind. Mandeep Singh, with a little help from Adam Gilchrist, accounted for Marlon Samuels with an inch-perfect throw from deep midwicket.Super Kings, on the other hand, had Mumbai at 83 for 6 after 12 overs, before Kieron Pollard showed grit and gumption. Still, the target of 149 was hardly daunting for a line-up like Super Kings'. A series of poor shots though pushed them so far behind in the chase that even a MS Dhoni special could not rescue the team. But Super Kings have seen it all before, and one game is hardly a measure of how an IPL season could turn out. If the players' tweets ribbing Ravindra Jadeja on the eve of the Mohali match are any indication, team morale is high. Plus, they have reinforcements in the form of South African allrounders, Albie Morkel and Chris Morris, who arrived following the conclusion of their domestic commitments. Morkel was an injury worry, turning an ankle during South Africa's T20 final on Sunday, but he has since tweeted that his scans are clear Then there was Gurkeerat Singh's spectacular, flying take in the long leg region, to get rid of Ross Taylor.Super Kings paid 31 times the base price for the allrounder, who can be expected to produce accurate, pacy spells, and get a few big hits away down the order. Morris first caught the eye at the 2012 Champions League where his team, Lions, finished runners-up. On Sunday, he took 2 for 18 at 5.68 as Lions triumphed in the Ram Slam T20 Challenge, claiming the big wickets of Herschelle Gibbs and Albie Morkel. With Morkel unlikely to be 100% fit after his ankle trouble, and Ben Laughlin having an average game against Mumbai, there's a good chance Morris will get an IPL debut on Wednesday.  Three special moments, which ripped the heart out of Warriors' batting. Gilchrist and Manan Vohra then sealed things in style, knocking off the target of 100 with almost eight overs to spare.

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