Week 4 - Match 4 - Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders

Welcome to the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, home of the Rajasthan Royals

Form

RR - DLL

KKR - WWL

Pitch Conditions: A flat top which should result in a high scoring affair, power hitters will love this pitch as the ball will sit up nicely especially off of the fast bowlers. The pitch is very hard and dry so may crumble slightly late in the second innings.

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Please post tactics below:

Provisional XI

Watson
Dravid
Menaria
Sangakkara (w)
Uthappa
Manhas
Shukla
Botha
Warne (c)
Ishant
Junaid

Will post tactics later. Need some time to think things through.

watson would love batting on this pitch

Toss:Bat first

Chris Gayle
Shikhar Dhawan
Manoj Tiwary
Eoin Morgan
Shakib Al Hasan
Yusuf Pathan
Abdul Razzaq
Bipul Sharma
Zaheer Khan
Devendra Bishoo
Pragyan Ojha

On a flat pitch with not much it in for the seamers I have decided to go in with a spin heavy attack yet I have the best flat pitch fast bowler in the world in the form of Zaheer Khan.Plus dont forget I have got Abdul Razzaq to provide a seam option.His wicket to wicket medium pace bowling would be ideal on this surface.His bowling is more suited to this surface than Jacques Kallis' hit the deck type bowling.Plus I have got the battery of spinners who will do a very good containing job if we are to bowl first and help in restricting them to a low total.If we bat first then with the pitch offering a bit of help(although not extragavant help) to the spinners these guys would take more wickets.Either way,this track is going to offer help and that too only little bit of help only late in the 2nd innings.So i am not expecting to bowl Rajasthan out on this pitch.This side has been picked with a view to choke the flow of runs and break partnerships rather than running through a side within no time because thats clearly not likely on this surface.

As far as my batting is concerned I have traded away Gambhir but Dhawan is a very good player.I suggest you guys to have a look at his domestic record.He is not a big hitter but can score quickly.He is a busy player.He will open with Gayle and both of them will look to take the attack to Ishant who will not suit this surface at all.They will also take calculated risks against Junaid Khan although not as aggressive as they would be against Ishant.Even if RR decide to open the bowling with a spinner these two would not back down as both are good players of spin.One odd dismissaL to Botha in the WC shouldnt be counted against Gayle as he has scored runs against better spinners.The rest of my batting order is flexible with Tiwary coming in in case of an early wicket otherwise the likes of Morgan will be promoted.Likewise down the order if we need someone to build an innings Shakib will bat at 5 but if the 3rd wicket falls with only 6 to 7 overs left then the likes of Pathan and Razzaq would be promoted.This pitch should suit them perfectly.Rajasthan have Shane Warne in their ranks but he is 42 now and clearly nowhere near the Warney of old.A middle order of Morgan,Shakib,Pathan and Razzaq all of whom play spin well should be able to handle him.We will look to take calculated risks rather than just slogging.We intend to bat first on this first but chasing wouldnt be too big a problem because Morgan,Pathan and Razzaq are all excellent when it comes to chasing(they are great finishers) and the pitch also wouldnt change that much although it would change a bit,it shouldnt be too big a factor in T20.


Zaheer and Shakib will take the new ball.Watson's problems of late against left arm spin were evident in his struggles against Herath in SL and Peterson in his first match of the CLT20.He is still a very good player of spin.I am not denying that.But he has tendency to slog across the line trying to hit it over mid wicket.Shakib will look to bowl stump to stump and aim for bowled or LBW.From the other end I have got the world class Zaheer who will trouble any batsman in the world on any pitch.Zaheer will bowl 2 overs whereas Shakib will bowl out.Bishoo,Ojha and Bipul will control the middle before Zaheer and Razzaq bowl in the slog overs.
If Razzaq in the slog overs isnt working I can of course give it to the experienced Gayle who will just dart the ball into the block hole and he has bowled in the slog overs previously and done it with some success.


Overs Breakdown

Shakib:1,3,5,7
Zaheer:2,4,18,20
Bishoo:6,8,10,12
Ojha:9,11,13.15
Bipul:14,16
Razzaq:17,19

Of course I have got Gayle and Yusuf Pathan to turn to if Razzaq bowling at the slog overs isnt working.But with Razzaq's accuracy and his variations and experience I expect him to do well in the slog overs.

thats a very good tactical page from you there shanky a lot of depth with your tactics. Very well organised outfit, should do well on this pitch.

Cheers mate.

I think Rajasthan have picked a good side for this surface as well.Should be fascinating.

have to see what tactics that GG puts up before i decide a winner.

some paragraphs could help though, could you edit it a bit?

Mad for Chelsea wrote:some paragraphs could help though, could you edit it a bit?

I dont want to edit it mate.We are not allowed to.

will kkr bounce back with a win, or are they on the start of a slippery slope..

You can edit it, shanky, as both teams tactics aren't up.

Fists of Fury wrote:You can edit it, shanky, as both teams tactics aren't up.

His team is up though.

Ok i will make 2 paras.

I have edited it to form paras.I havent changed the team or the tactics though

zaheer may get some reverse swing off this pitch.

cricketfan90 wrote:zaheer may get some reverse swing off this pitch.

unless he gets inured

Watson
Dravid
Menaria
Sangakkara (w)
Uthappa
Manhas
Shukla
Botha
Warne (c)
Ishant
Junaid

Selection - Manhas and Shukla come in due to their tremendous experience in similar conditions to these. Ishant will make his debut, Junaid comes in as he is an exceptional death bowler in conditions like these.

Batting - Watson will open the batting and go hard at the left arm spinner who was part of the attack he scored 185* off 90 odd balls against in an ODI recently. Watson will play his naturally aggressive game will Dravid will look to hit fours in the gaps. Due to the flatness of the pitch former India u19 captain Ashok Menaria will come in as a pinch hitter and look to score quickly and significantly up the run rate. Sangakkara will then come in and look to score at a good rate to leave a good platform for Uthappa, Manhas, Shukla and Botha who are all capable of clearing the rope. Also, Morgan isn't the most reliable w/k so that could gain me some extra runs.

Bowling - Johan Botha will open the bowling to Gayle who struggled in the IPL when facing a similar bowler in R Ashwin in the first over. Ishant who is up against his former team will share the new ball and look to bowl fast as he did in the IPL. Junaid will bowl first change and also come back on at the end. Warne will control the middle overs. Shukla will only be used if one of the main 5 bowlers has a bad day. If KKR lose a couple of early wickets early I see them struggling as they don't really have an anchor in their line up.

Botha 1,3,10,12 (4 overs)
Ishant 2,4,6,8 (4 overs)
Junaid 5,16,18,20 (4 overs)
Warne 7,9,11,13 (4 overs)
Watson 15,17,19 (3 overs)
Menaria 14 (1 over)

Toss: bat first

shanky if u bat first, then ojha could be a handful in the 2nd innings

toss may be important here, runs on the board could be very important, and we know how good Warne is at defending a total. KKR have a strong team on paper, but Morgan is probably the only guy there who can really "build" an innings, and I don't think this pitch will suit Razzaq's bowling at all.

I must say GG, you may not have the strongest squad but you always seem to make a good fist of it by picking tactics and teams ideally suited to the conditions.

i would have still tried to find room for kallis in this game, but its down to u mate, and its still a very good side