Cuttack, April 30 (IANS) Having suffered a defeat against bottom-placed Deccan Chargers in their previous game, Pune Warriors will look to come back to winning ways when they take on the 2009 Indian Premier League (IPL) champions here Tuesday.
Under the captaincy of Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara, Deccan Chargers recorded their first win in this year’s competition with a 18-run victory over Pune Thursday.
The Chargers have been a touch unlucky this year, losing some nail-biters. Rohit Sharma’s heroics in the last over gave Mumbai Indians a narrow victory in the first game between the two. Deccan should have won against Rajasthan Royals as well but were thwarted by a late surge by Australian Brad Hodge.
Deccan’s Dale Steyn the fiery pacer from South Africa has proved a thorn in the flesh of many a batsman this season. His recent spell in the match against Mumbai won him the Man of the Match award even after ending up on the losing side. He kept his team in the match by taking two wickets and giving away only 10 runs in his four overs.
The South African has taken 11 wickets with a strike rate of a wicket every 12.90 balls and a bowling economy of 5.66 runs per over.
Pune who won their first two matches have lost their way midway with only sporadic wins. With eight points from nine matches they have only four wins to their name.
In their last five encounters Pune only managed their sole win against Delhi Daredevils by a margin 20 runs. Ganguly with his all round performance of 41 runs and two wickets for 27 won himself the man of the match award.
Pune’s dry run can be attributed to the absence of Ashok Dinda who has been on the sidelines due to an injury. Dinda, who has played only five matches this season, is Pune’s highest wicket-taker with eight wickets.
Sourav Ganguly led Pune, who have had a much needed break in a hectic IPL schedule, will look to avenge their defeat and consolidate their position in the points table.
New Zealand’s Jesse Ryder and his opening partner Robin Uthappa have been the top run getters for Pune while Australian Steven Smith coming lower down the order has been a revelation.
