The Pune Warriors India (PWI) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) will play against each other for the first time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013. The match will be played at Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, Pune on Thursday.
Overview:
PWI's outing in the IPL sixth season has been disappointing, losing the first two matches to Sunrisers Hyderabad and then to Kings XI Punjab. They will be keen to put up some points on the score table.
RR are on the top half of the table having won the two matches played so far. They beat Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders in the previous matches and have four points. They will be keen to keep the momentum.
Team News:
Pune Warriors India: They have a strong batting line-up but none of them have given an impressive show so far. Robin Uthappa, Marlon Samuels and Ross Taylor are known for their explosive shots. Manish Pandey, Tirumalasetti Suman, Angelo Mathews and Abhishek Nayar can not only rotate the strike but also hit big when needed. They have to pull up their socks, and put up a good total on the board to stay in the competition.
The good news is, Yuvraj Singh, who was rested in the second match is back on the team and raring to go.
They have good bowlers like Ashok Dinda, Marlon Samuels, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Angelo Mathews and Rahul Sharma but their performance have not been impressive. Only Dinda has taken two wickets in a match. They have to put up a good show and restrict the opponent from scoring at will.
Rajasthan Royals: Having won the first two matches, RR is in high confidence. Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Dravid, Stuart Binny and Brad Hodge are looking strong. Kushal Janith Perera didn't performed well in the first match, and so too Shane Watson in his first outing of the IPL sixth season but they can be dangerous.
In the bowling department, Kevon Cooper has been phenomenal, taking three wickets each in both the games played. Siddharth Trivedi took three wickets for 23 runs in the previous match. They team also have Samuel Badree, Sreesanth and Rahul Shukla.
Previous Meetings:
The Rajasthan Royals and Pune Warriors India have met three times, and the former won on all the three occasions.
Prediction:
PWI have home ground advantage and can be dangerous but RR are a more balanced side at the moment. RR should win on Thursday.
SQUADS
Pune Warriors India: Angelo Mathews (c), Aaron Finch, Abhishek Nayar, Ajantha Mendis, Ali Murtaza, Anustup Majumdar, Ashok Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Dheeraj Jadhav, Eklavya Dwivedi, Harpreet Singh, Ishwar Pandey, Kane Richardson, Krishnakant Upadhyay, Luke Wright, Mahesh Rawat, Manish Pandey, Marlon Samuels, Mitchell Marsh, Mithun Manhas, Parveez Rasool, Rahul Sharma, Raiphi Gomez, Robin Uthappa, Ross Taylor, Shrikant Wagh, Steve Smith, Tirumalasetti Suman, Tamim Iqbal, Udit Birla, Yuvraj Singh, Wayne Parnell
Rajasthan Royals: Rahul Dravid (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Ajit Chandila, Ankeet Chavan, Ashok Menaria, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Dishant Yagnik, Fidel Edwards, Harmeet Singh, James Faulkner, Kevon Cooper, Kumar Boresha, Kushal Janith Perera, Owais Shah, Pravin Tambe, Rahul Shukla, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Sachin Baby, Samuel Badree, Sanju Samson, Shane Watson, Shaun Tait, Shreevats Goswami, Siddharth Trivedi, Stuart Binny, Vikramjeet Malik
Where to Watch Live
The match will begin at 4:00 pm IST and will be telecast live on Sony Set Max channel.
