Kings XI Punjab face Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 7 final

BANGALORE: Even kings could not have asked for more. A smashing Virender Sehwag, a sight for sore eyes, rolled back the years in the CSK match and batted with trademark freedom and matchless brilliance to muscle an overjoyed Kings XI Punjab to their first-ever IPL final.
In the process the swashbuckling batsman served notice to Kolkata Knight Riders that he was back at his destructive best and that their clash on Sunday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium won't be one for the faint hearted.
KKR, who scored two consecutive wins over Kings XI in this edition of the IPL, have the best bowling side, thanks to the unfathomable Sunil Narine.
His mix of leg-spin and off-spin has foxed every batsman in the game. The fact that he delivers the ball at a decent pace and varies the length often has ensured that batsmen have not been able to use their feet or cut and sweep him with any confidence. On him and the opposition's ability to tackle his wares does the fate of every match hinge on.
But even Narine, who in any case can bowl just four overs, cannot be the last word in this final, particularly as both teams have outstanding power hitters.
Additionally the firm KSCA pitch and the relatively short boundaries would be to the advantage of these batters. In this regard Kings XI are cocks of the walk as they have in Sehwag, super improviser Glenn Maxwell, flat-batter David Miller and skipper George Bailey batsmen who can pulverize any bowling attack.

KKR are not as destructive, though Yusuf Pathan on his day can take any bowler to the cleaners. The consistent Robin Uthappa, who has scored above 40 runs in 10 consecutive innings, has been the real backbone of Kolkata's batting. He has held the top order together and still sparkled with textbook drives, pulls and cuts.
Manish Pandey, Ryan Ten Doeschate and Gautam Gambhir might suffer in comparison to their flamboyant rivals but each is capable of innovative strokeplay. And on their day they, even Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan, could be match-winners.
It would be interesting to see if KKR would bank on three spinners, Narine, Piyush Chawla and Shakib on this pitch and ground.
Logically they would opt for the medium pace of Vinay Kumar at the expense of Chawla. The tall pacy Morne Morkel and Umesh Yadav could find the track to their liking, particularly if they can bowl the right lines.
Kings XI's find of the season, the tall Akshar Patel and leg-spinner Karanveer Singh too could find the going tough, especially if the likes of Pathan and Pandey come after them.
However, the fiery Mitchell Johnson and promising Sandeep Sharma will be a handful.