IPL 7: Kolkata Knight Riders opt to bowl against Kings XI Punjab

NEW DELHI: Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir won the toss and chose to bowl against Kings XI Punjab in their IPL match at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Sunday.
Both teams made a couple of changes to their playing XI.
Kings XI Punjab brought back all-rounder Rishi Dhawan and speedster Parvinder Awana in the playing XI in place of Shivam Sharma and Lakshmipathy Balaji.
The KKR have got Morne Morkel and Piyush Chawla in place of R Vinay Kumar and Shakib Al Hasan.
Kings XI Punjab batsman Glenn Maxwell, undoubtedly, has carved a niche for himself in the sphere of T20 cricket with his stroke-play and fearless approach at the wicket.
Kings XI's South African import David Miller, too, has been in ominous touch with the bat.
Gambhir has been struggling with consistency.
Barring Robin Uthappa, none of the KKR top-order batsmen have shown the application nor the consistency to see them through to the last-four stage.
The likes of Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Pathan and Manish Pandey have hardly looked the part as Gambhir's men have faltered five times in eight encounters.
The fragile middle-order has caved in more often than not under pressure and against Rajasthan Royals they reached a new abyss, losing six wickets for just two runs in Ahmedabad. This despite a hundred-run opening stand between Gambhir and Uthappa.
The bowlers, too, have been on the expensive side for KKR and with Maxwell and Miller in the opposition ranks; things look bleak for the Morkels and the Yadavs. And Sunil Narine has hardly got support from the other end.
Teams:
Kings XI Punjab: George Bailey (Capt.), Virender Sehwag, Mandeep Singh, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, Akshar Patel, Mitchell Johnson, Rishi Dhawan, Parvinder Awana.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (Capt.), Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Pathan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Suryakumar Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav, Sunil Narine.