| Pulled up by skipper Sourav Ganguly following a lackluster showing in their previous outing, the Pune batsmen would look to put up a much better display when they take on the formidable Chennai team in the Indian T20 League match played at Pune. Pune started the tournament on a positive note, notching up wins in their first two matches, till Punjab disturbed the momentum. Chennai, on the other hand, have not been their usual self at the start, but the thrilling win over Bangalore on Thursday when they chased down 206, should come as a shot in the arm for the visitors. The Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium is expected to be packed to the brim by Pune fans, but going by Chennai's depth and variety, the visitors are not likely to be too worried about that. As far as captaincy is concerned, Ganguly led the side well, but is yet to fire with the willow. Considering that they are not a side packed with experienced international stars, it is important that Ganguly takes the lead himself and inspires the rest who follow him in the batting line-up. The top-order hasn't fired yet. They would be expecting the likes of Jesse Ryder, Robin Uthappa,Manish Pandey and Angelo Mathews get into the groove quickly as it will benefit the team immensely. Their batting may not seem that formidable but Pune surely have a pretty good bowling attack in Ashok Dinda, Ashish Nehra and leg-spinner Rahul Sharma. Nehra attributed their seven-wicket loss on Thursday to fielding lapses and the failure to play the full quota of 20 overs, and Pune would do well to avoid repeating the same mistakes. In the match against Punjab, Pune were bundled out for 115 in 19 overs. In stark contrast, the Super Kings batted with aplomb as they successfully chased a mammoth target at the Chepauk stadium. While Murali Vijay hasn't really done anything of note till now, his opening partner Faf du Plessis has been in a rich vein of form. He cracked 71 off just 46 deliveries while skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni contributed 41 off 24 that also marked his return to form after a quite start to the tournament. Albie Morkel and Dwayne Bravo, too, were in full flow as they tore into the Bangalore bowlers. The defending champions would be hoping to continue the momentum against Pune, who are placed third on the points table with two wins from three matches, while the Super Kings are on fifth position with as many wins as the hosts from four games. |
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