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It took Kumar Sangakkara's first fifty of the tournament and Irfan Pathan's all-round show to fashion Kings XI Punjab's 27-run win against the Rajasthan Royals in Cape Town. Past records, however, would count for little when the sides square off on Tuesday at Kingsmead to have another go at each other.
Kings XI didn't have the best of starts in the tournament as they began with back-to-back defeats against Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders in two rain-marred ties. To their credit, the Mohali outfit showed tremendous resilience and engineered three wins on the trot to put their campaign back on track. The momentum snapped when the lowly Royal Challengers Bangalore upset their apple cart but once again Yuvraj and his men bounced back by beating the Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday, also settling scores with the side which had beaten them in their first encounter. In contrast, the defending champions under Warne had a rather rollercoaster ride with agony and ecstasy following each other with amazing regularity. The opening match debacle against the Royal Challengers Bangalore was followed by the washed out tie against Mumbai Indians.
Beating the Knight Riders gave them their first taste of triumph and they went on to get the better of the mighty Delhi Daredevils and redoubtable Deccan Chargers, losing to Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings in between.
Even though Kings XI have won more matches – four compared to Rajasthan's three -- in the tournament so far, there is little to choose between the side that cross swords on Tuesday. The Mohali outfit has been served well by their Sri Lankan recruits with Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene bailing out the side in the hour of crisis while Yuvraj's own form has been less than consistent.
In the bowling department, Punjab has found its messiah in Yusuf Abdulla and the burly South African, current purple cap holder, has left no stone unturned to prove his mettle in front of his home crowd.
In contrast, Rajasthan's batting is way too reliant on Yusuf Pathan even though Abhishek Raut has also made his mark. Warne has been marshalling his thin bowling resource with characteristic guile and once again his stunning leadership would keep the Punjab side guessing all along on Tuesday.
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