Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab are going to take on each other in a high profile second semi final of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2008. Rajasthan Royals already reached the final defeating Delhi Daredevils by 105 runs, in a one-sided match. So, Chennai vs Punjab clash now has all the attention in the tournament. Fans are expecting a thrilling semi final on 31 May 2008. Both the teams have some excellent foreign as well as local cricketers who will try their best to reach the final of the tournament to face Rajasthan Royals.
Kings XI Punjab started IPL 2008 with two defeats; despite they were termed as one of the favorite before the tournament. Interestingly, Kings XI Punjab played their tournament opener against Chennai Super Kings. Punjab needed three matches to start proving the ‘favorite tag’ given to them. Following two defeats in the first two matches, Kings XI Punjab recorded five consecutive victories before experiencing their third defeat in the tournament to Chennai Super Kings once again. Punjab came back in winning run in the next match and this time it went on for four consecutive games before an inspired Kolkata Knight Riders halted Punjab in a close match. Punjab finished the tournament with an excellent victory over Rajasthan Royals in the last match of the first round.
So, you can see that Punjab lost both the league matches against Chennai Super Kings, which might give a psychological edge to Chennai Super Kings ahead of the semi final match. However, Chennai Super Kings also went through ups and downs during the first round matches in IPL 2008. Chennai had a great start in the tournament winning first four matches in the tournament. Chennai’s winning run stopped when Delhi Daredevils stood on their way. That was the start of Chennai Super Kings’s bad patch which resulted in three consecutive defeats, before Chennai came back to winning run, interestingly, against Delhi Daredevils. However, it lasted only for two matches because Chennai suffered their fourth defeat to Mumbai Indians. From that point Chennai’s performance was inconsistent, winning only two matches from four outings. However, the good thing is that Chennai finished the first round winning the last match against Deccan Chargers.
So, in total Chennai won eight matches against six defeats, while Punjab projected ten victories along with four defeats. Punjab finished second to Rajasthan in the point table with 20 points, while Chennai secured third place with 16 points to their credit. Kings XI Punjab is going into the match with their triumph over Rajasthan fresh in mind, while Chennai will cherish their two previous victories over Punjab. Chennai’s batting line up does not look as good as it was at the beginning of the tournament following the departure of Matthew Hayden, Hussey and Stephen Fleming. Albie Morkel, Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are the main strength of Chennai Super Kings, whereas Ntini, Goni and Muralitharan are expected to guide Chennai with their bowling.
For Kings XI Punjab, they have a bunch of foreign batsmen along with some local bowlers. Shaun Marsh is in high form with excellent hard hitting batting performances. Yuvraj Singh is also there to serve the best in the middle order. Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan and Piyush Chawla are among the best bowlers of Indian at this moment. So, their bowling side is also very strong.
If you can not watch the match live on television, then you can visit the following live score sites to get the online live score and updates of the match:
Cricinfo
Thetwenty20cup
Cricketnext
Cricket.sulekha
indianpremierleagues
stickcricket
cricpoint
indvsauslivescore
cricketworld
I think, both the sides are balanced and have a number of proven performers. So, I think, an exciting match will be there on the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai tomorrow. Fans of both sides are now eagerly waiting for the match. Now, let us see who are going to reach the final of IPL 2008 to face Rajasthan Royals.
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