‘Lynnsanity’ took over the IPL last night when Chris Lynn went berserk and smashed the inexperienced Gujarat Lions bowling attack to all parts of the ground. It wasn’t something that wasn’t on the cards, especailly with his exploits in the BBL, but you expected that he would follow decorum, and take at least an inning or two to adjust to the conditions, but hey life is too short!
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Gujarat Lions invested all their resources into their batting line up, hoping to out bat their opponent, and in the process managed to dish out a fragile bowling unit that did not threaten Lynn and Gambhir and they romped to a successful chase in just 15 overs.
Dwayne Smith isn’t an all rounder, and if Gujarat want him to bat at number 6, they should probably be going with Faulkner instead as he provides some spine to their bowling unit too. Jason Roy and McCullum at the top of the order seem really interesting and could tear apart oppositions on their day, and I think they should stick with that combination all through. Gujarat should find their feet once Jaddu and Bravo are back but they could have to make the bold call of leaving out Dwayne Smith in that case, which I am not sure they are eager about.
Kolkata Knight Riders have most bases covered. They started off in typical fashion, bowling first, using the spinners to dictate terms in the middle and then chasing down the total with the help of just their openers. Whenever KKR successfully execute this formula, they seem like an unbeatable unit. Tonk their spinners or breakthrough that opening stand, and the problems start to surface, but as of now, all is well.
Let’s get to business now!
Kings XI Punjab vs Rising Pune Supergiant
RPS have set the ball rolling and look like a very balanced unit, barring their fast bowling combination, which they should be able to sort out. Steve Smith is in impeccable form and with a strong middle order boasting of Dhoni and Stokes, they should be able to out muscle the opposition on most occasions. Zampa and Tahir present a mouth watering prospect and would not only stem the run flow in the middle overs, but also run through oppositions.
Also Read: Do’s and Don’ts for the IPL Fantasy League
Glenn Maxwell would have his hands full as KXIP captain. He has never ever led a side in his 340 games as a first class cricketer and would have to wield some surreal magic to turn the fortunes of this underachieving team. KXIP probably have one of the best squads, but have too many players competing for the same spot. Guptill, Amla and Maxwell all open for their respective countries in international T20s and they’ll have to work out a way to include at least 2 out of these 3(Maxwell is a certainty) if they want to go deeper into this tournament. Eoin Morgan’s return to form is a big boost for them(he had a wonderful PSL) and Marcus Stoinis would provide solidity to their lower batting order and some spine to their death bowling.
IPL Fantasy League
Transfer out: Chris Woakes, Suryakumar Yadav
Transfer in: Glenn Maxwell, T Natarjan
While ‘Lynnsanity’ is exciting, it comes at a cost, especially when you don’t have its torchbearer in your side. But not much damage was done, as a of Fantasy players did not opt for his services as there were question marks with regard to his batting position, but now that we have been exposed to the fact that he’ll be opening the batting for KKR, it would be a grave sin to not include Chris Lynn whenever KKR features!
Now, I already have Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith, Ben Stokes and Adam Zampa in my side for this game.
The first player that I get in for this game is Glenn Maxwell. He has been exceptional for Australia at the top of the order and says that he finds it ‘easier’ when batting up top, with the field restrictions in place. Maxwell getting 6 overs of power play all for himself is a prospect that is too luring not to fall for, get him in, now!
Now, with 3 overseas players from the RPS squad already in my side, I don’t have room for any more overseas players in this game and hence Eoin Morgan and David Miller don’t get a mention. If you want to, you could go in with Morgan who has been in brilliant form in the last year, scoring heavily in the India series and also in the PSL.
Miller bats way too down the order and thus there is no point drafting him in as you are never too sure how many deliveries he’ll be facing.
Kings XI don’t boast of high profile Indian T20 stars and there is no point squandering away transfers at players who haven’t made quite a mark in the world yet!
For the uncapped player pick, I’ll go with T Natarajan. Natarajan was the find of the Tamil Nadu Premier League, bowling 6 yorkers in the a super over and taking his team home. He is probably one of the finest death bowlers around and is guarantee to bowl 2 overs at the death, get him in, he could be your trump card for today.
Captain: Ben Stokes(Bats at number 4 and will bowl a minimum of 3 overs)
Fandromeda
I’ll be making the same changes for Fandromeda, except the uncapped player. So, just get in Glenn Maxwell, and enjoy the magic!
Batting Star: Steve Smith(the most dependable batsman right now)
Bowling Star: Adam Zampa
