Kolkata Knight Riders
Guatam Gambhir got off to a dreadful start as the new Kolkata skipper when his own individual failure significantly contributed to his side throwing away victory in Chennai on Friday. The most expensive player in IPL4 caused his own dismissal with some Keystone Cops style running between the wickets, having come in surprisingly low down the order. Kolkata may consider a right/left handed opening combination of Gambhir and Mandvinder Bisla this time, allowing Jacques Kallis to come in at first wicket down.
Deccan Chargers
The curse of Hyderabad, where Deccan have yet to win in the IPL, struck again on Saturday when the hosts failed to defend a modest total against the Rajasthan Royals. Their highly rated spinner Pragyan Ojha had a dreadful time conceding 44 runs off just 23 balls during a wicket-less spell. But it is the batting that is the main cause for concern and with a line up that isn't as deep as most of the other sides, the top order has to produce.
Match Odds
Despite fielding abysmally and throwing away a winning position, there was an awful lot to like about the new look Kolkata and Gambhir and his men look set to give the long suffering Knight Rider fans a much better campaign this time around. Deccan have had to be impressive on the road in past campaigns because of their dreadful home record and will fancy their chances of exploiting Kolkata's fragile confidence. Kolkata are 1.74 with the visitors at 2.28 and at those prices, Deccan are the recommendation.
Deccan Top Batsman
Like his opposite number, Kumar Sangakkara did not enjoy the best of starts to his captaincy, out for a third ball duck on Saturday. The Sri Lankan can be forgiven. He had one heck of a week, having resigned as skipper of his nation's one-day teams three days after losing the World Cup final. He's a class act and will bounce back. Odds in the region of 4.0 will be available on the Deccan skipper leading from the front and top scoring.
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