Punjab, Rajasthan Aim to Build on Momentum

Sharjah: Rajasthan Royals. Kings XI Punjab will look to avoid their first loss in the seventh edition of the IPL.

Fresh from contrasting wins in their opening matches in IPL 7, Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals go head-to-head at Sharjah in their second game on Sunday,4.

KXIP chased down Chennai Super Kings' 205 for 4 with more than an over to spare, the Royals scored a four-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in a low scoring match. Where KXIP will hope that they produce a far better bowling performance against the Champions League Twenty20 finalists, Rajasthan.

On the other hand, would be aiming for their top order to fire, particularly skipper Shane Watson who has been in woeful form with the bat. All in all, it promises to closely contested affair.

Glenn Maxwell proved a brilliant buy for them after his rollicking 43-ball 95 took the team to a resounding six-wicket win over two-time champions Super Kings. Not only Maxwell, South African big-hitter David Miller also grabbed his chance and batted through the end to finish off a successful chase.

Rajasthan Royals players who were retained by the franchise, like Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny and James Faulkner, performed well in the opening win against Sunrisers but the main concern for them is the other batsmen to hit form early in the tournament.

Teams from

Rajasthan : Shane Watson (Capt.), Ajinkya Rahane, Abhishek Nayar, Sanju Samson (wk), Stuart Binny, Brad Hodge, Rajat Bhatia, James Faulkner, Kane Richardson, Pravin Tambe, Dhawal Kulkarni, Iqbal Abdulla, Tim Southee, Unmukt Chand, Ankush Bains, Kevon Cooper, Ben Cutting, Karun Nair, Steven Smith, Dishant Yagnik, Vikramjeet Malik, Rahul Tewatia, Amit Mishra, Deepak Hooda, Ankit Sharma

Punjab : George Bailey (Capt.), Virender Sehwag, Cheteshwar Pujara, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishi Dhawan, Akshar Patel, Mitchell Johnson, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Parvinder Awana, Mandeep Singh, Anureet Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Gurkeerat Singh, Shaun Marsh, Thisara Perera, Manan Vohra, Beuran Hendricks, Karanveer Singh, Murali Kartik, Shivam Sharma, Shardul Thakur

Stats and trivia

Maxwell's strike rate in chases of 180 or more is 172
Brad Hodge needs 15 runs to become the first man to the 6000-run mark in T20 cricket

Match facts
Sunday April 20, 2014 (day/night)
Start time 1830 (1430 GMT, 2000 IST)

Scores	Upcoming	Results
Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe - 2nd T20I Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Titans - 52nd Match Punjab Kings vs Chennai Super Kings - 53rd Match Lucknow Super Giants vs Kolkata Knight Riders - 54th Match 55th Match - Mumbai Indians v Sunrisers Hyderabad - May 06, 14:00 GMT 3rd T20I - Bangladesh v Zimbabwe - May 07, 09:00 GMT 51st Match - Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders at Mumbai Kolkata Knight Riders won by 24 runs 1st T20I - Bangladesh v Zimbabwe at Chittagong Bangladesh won by 8 wickets (with 28 balls remaining)

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