IPL 7: Maxwell factor looms large for Chennai Super Kings in Qualifier 2

Buoyed by their convincing sevenwicket win over title holders Mumbai Indians Chennai Super Kings will take on Kings XI Punjab in their second IPL knockout game inside three days here tomorrow with swashbuckling batsman Glenn Maxwell being a major threat to their chancesRiding on the 25yearold Australian batsmans incandescent 90plus run knocks in Abu Dhabi and Cuttack in the group stage of the T20 League Kings XI Punjab had flattened twotime champions Chennai Super KingsGlenn MaxwellTomorrows Qualifier 2 the penultimate IPL7 match at the Wankhede Stadium will provide Chennai a great platform to avenge those two defeats and leapfrog into the June 1 summit clash against Kolkata Knight Riders at BangaloreHowever to achieve the feat of entering the final for the sixth time Chennai will have to stop Maxwell who simply tore into their bowlers especially two key spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja on the two previous occasions Maxwell the third highest rungetter with 539 runs this season smashed 95 in 43 balls in Abu Dhabi last month to help Punjab chase down a massive 206run target set up by the Super KingsThe Victorian was even more dominating in their subsequent clash earlier this month at Cuttack where he hit a whirlwind 90 off just 35 balls to power Punjab to an incredible score of 231 Ashwin was smashed for 38 runs without a wicket in just two overs by Maxwell while Jadeja conceded 37 runs in three overs without any success The destruction of these two Super Kings bowlers by Maxwell will certainly come up for discussion by the Super Kings thinktank ahead of their doordie encounterBut Chennai will certainly look to take advantage of the fact that Kings XI who had looked almost unstoppable during the group stage have had their hiccups of late They were beaten comprehensively by Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens yesterday Kings XI need to not only regroup quickly but also get over the travel fatigue in order to match the efficiency of the Super Kings who simply outplayed Mumbai Indians here last night Super Kings changed their opening combination as they sent South Africas Faf du Plessis along with Dwayne Smith the second highest runscorer with 559 runs this season instead of inform New Zealand captain Brendon McCullumThe strategy paid off as the two stitched a halfcentury stand in quick time to lay a solid platform Suresh Raina who hit 33ball 54 not out and stayed till the end along with David Hussey 40 not out in 29 balls then carried the Super Kings past Mumbais 173 for eight with a breezy unbroken stand of 89 for the fourth wicket The Super Kings overall display was efficient without being flamboyant and they would require another such stellar performance to deflate Kings XIs hopes of making their maiden entry into the IPL title contestSuper Kings have relied on their Indian bowling trio of purple cap holder Mohit Sharma and two lead spinners Ashwin and Jadeja and would hope they can do the trick against the marauding blades of not only Maxwell and David Miller but also those of Virender Sehwag Manan Vohra Wriddhiman Saha and captain George Bailey This explosive batting line up failed to get going against the Knight Riders while chasing a modest 164run target and Kings XI would be eager to get over the flop show and put their best foot forward in what is their second and last chance to enter the finalKings XIs bowling attack is also good They have been relying mostly on their Indian players in Sandeep Sharma 17 wickets left arm spinner Akshar Patel 16 wickets who has been included in the Indian team for the tour of Bangladesh next month and seasoned Laxmipathy Balaji 12 wickets along with Australian left arm pacer Mitchell Johnson 14 wickets They tried out leggie Karanveer Singh and Parvinder Awana in Qualifier 1 while resting Sandeep Sharma and Balaji both of whom should be back in the playing eleven tomorrowThe Kings XI bowlers need to provide the team with some early wickets against the Super Kings who have the requisite depth and explosive power in their batting that includes captain and worlds most envied finisher Mahendra Singh Dhoni to overhaul big scores A capacity crowd is expected to witness the seasons second last IPL game and they would not like to watch anything less than another humdingerTeams from Kings XI Punjab Virender Sehwag Manan Vohra Wridhiman Saha Glenn Maxell David Miller George Bailey Akshar Patel Rishi Dhawan Mitchell Johnson Karanveer Singh L Balaji Sandeep Sharma Parvinder Awana B Hendricks Shaun Marsh Cheteshwar Pujara Mandeep Singh Shardul Thakur Shivam Sharma Anureet Singh Gurkeerat Singh Mann M KarthikChennai Super Kings Mahendra Singh Dhoni C Suresh Raina Ravichandran Ashwin Ravindra Jadeja Faf du Plessis Brendon McCullum Dwayne Smith Ashish Nehra Mohit Sharma Samuel Badree Ben Hilfenhaus Matt Henry B Aparajith Mithun Manhas Ishwar Pandey Pawan Negi Vijay Shankar Ronit More John Hastings Match commences at 8 pm