Axar Patel, left, starred in Kings XI Punjab's win over RCB with a fine all-round performance. PTIMohali: A resurgent Kings XI Punjab will look to go all guns blazing against down and out Gujarat Lions to keep their Indian Premier League (IPL) play-off hopes alive here on Sunday.
After registering a comprehensive 10-wicket win on their home turf here a week back against Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI pulled off another win against bottom-placed Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Bengaluru on Friday night.
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Kings XI bundled out Daredevils for 67 last week, while they defended a modest 138/7 by dismissing RCB for 119 to register a 19-run win.
All-rounder Axar Patel first smashed a 17-ball 38 and then followed it up with 3/11, to pile more misery on Virat Kohli-led RCB.
In the eight-team competition, Kings XI are placed fifth with five wins and ten points from 10 games, while Lions have just three wins from 11 games with six points.
With their win against RCB, Kings XI, who reached the finals of the 2014 edition, have improved their chances of making it to the play-offs.
Hashim Amla has been their highest run-scorer with 316 runs including a century against Mumbai Indians. Martin Guptill, Shaun Marsh, Manan Vohra, Wriddhiman Saha and Axar Patel all have chipped in from time to time, but they need to be more consistent to lend depth to Kings XI batting.
For Punjab, the form of their skipper Glenn Maxwell has been a cause of concern. Maxwell, who can single-handedly destroy any bowling attack, has been off-colour, getting under 200 runs in 10 matches, with an unbeaten 44 being his highest score this season.
Pacer Sandeep Sharma, whose three-wicket haul blew away RCB's top-order, is the spearhead of Kings XI attack.
Seamers Varun Aaron and Mohit Sharma have the ability to do a good job, while Axar has picked up 13 wickets with left-arm spin so far this season.
Gujarat Lions, on the other hand, are out of contention and they are struggling at the second last position. Having finished an impressive third in their inaugural season last year, it has been a a disappointing campaign for Lions this time around.
Lions are coming into the match following consecutive losses, which also includes the heartbreaking defeat against Mumbai Indians in a thrilling Super Over finish at Rajkot.
Despite posting 208/7, Lions were blown away by Rishabh Pant's sensational 43-ball 97-run innings and Sanju Samson's 61 in their last match against Delhi Daredevils and they would still be reeling from the seven-wicket loss.
Lions have also suffered a body blow losing their opener Brendon McCullum, who will miss the remaining matches after suffering a hamstring strain.
Skipper Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik have done bulk of their scoring. The presence of Ishan Kishan, Aaron Finch, and Dwayne Smith in their line-up means Lions have the ability to tear apart even the strongest of the bowling attack.
But more often than not, it is their inexperienced bowling unit which has cost the side dearly.
The likes of James Faulkner, Ravindra Jadeja and Ankit Soni have failed to live up to the expectations of the side.
The teams (from): Kings XI Punjab: Glenn Maxwell (capt), David Miller, Manan Vohra, Hashim Amla, Shaun Marsh, Darren Sammy, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Nikhil Naik, Ishant Sharma, Armaan Jaffer, Martin Guptill, Eoin Morgan, Rinku Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Arman Jaffer, Anureet Singh, Mohit Sharma, K.C. Cariappa, Pradeep Sahu, Swapnil Singh, T. Natrajan, Matt Henry, Varun Aaron, Axar Patel, Marcus Stoinis, Gurkeerat Mann and Rahul Tewatia.
Gujarat Lions: Suresh Raina (capt), Akshadeep Nath, Basil Thampi, Shubham Agarwal, Dwayne Smith, Chirag Suri, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Manpreet Gony, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Shadab Jakati, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Dhaval Kulkarni, Praveen Kumar, Pradeep Sangwan, Jaydev Shah, Shelly Shaurya, Nathusingh, Tejas Baroka and Ankit Soni.
Match starts at 8 pm
