Kings XI Punjab will have to perform or perish

Having revived its semifinal hopes with a morale-boosting six-wicket win over table topper Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab will look to continue its winning form against Deccan Chargers in its must-win Indian Premier League match here on Sunday.

With 12 points from 12 matches and only one match left after this, Punjab will have to beat Deccan Chargers, which has 12 points too — but with a match in hand — if it has to be in the running for the remaining three semifinal spots; Daredevils has already reserved its place in the last four.

Inconsistent so far

Kings XI has not been a consistent side in this year’s IPL, having failed to establish a winning momentum but its win over Daredevils on Friday has shown that it can beat any team in the tournament on its day.

Yuvraj Singh’s side will have the psychological advantage going into the match as it had beaten Adam Gilchrist’s men by three wickets in their earlier meeting.

What will boost Kings XI’s confidence further is the return to form of fit-again Australian fast bowler Brett Lee, whose man-of-the-match winning three for 15 against Delhi kept its semifinal hopes alive.

Welcome return

Lee has added sting to the Kings XI bowling department which also has tough competition within, with South African Yusuf Abdulla warming the bench. Lee bowled with fire and penetration to make life difficult for Delhi batsmen. He also got ample support from S. Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan.

In the spin department, Piyush Chawla has been doing a decent job of choking the run flow though without much luck with wickets.

Among the batsmen, Kumar Sangakkara has been in consistent form and Yuvraj has been among the top run-getters though he has not exactly set South Africa on fire so far. Irfan has been chipping in with useful runs in the lower order.

Mahela Jayawardene, who is suffering from a hamstring injury is unlikely to return to the side, as indicated by Yuvraj after the match against Delhi.

Deccan Chargers will have to get over what Glichrist called “cricket suicide” against Delhi. The middle order will have to stop gifting away wickets and focus on finishing strongly. The side will also have to show improvement in the fielding department.

Rohit Sharma, who has failed in his last three outings, is due a big score while Gilchrist could be tempted to bring back Herschelle Gibbs at the top and push T. Suman down the order after Luke Pomersbach failed against Delhi.

Sri Lankan veteran Chaminda Vaas’s impressive form after sitting out in the early part of the event would in come handy for Gilchrist while Pragyan Ojha has been consistent in the spin department.

R.P. Singh, though, will have to return to his wicket-taking ways to create trouble in the Kings XI top order.