Bowling major worry for KTK

KOCHI: Even as Kochi Tuskers Kerala demonstrated —in their debut match — that their batting is good enough to hold off the best attacks, the bowers need to get their act together if they are to prevail against fellow newcomers Pune Warriors on Wednesday.

While left-armer R P Singh managed to trouble the Royal Challengers Bangalore batsmen bringing the ball into the right-handers from over the wicket with the new ball, he was listless in his second spell.

Coming round the stumps against the left-handed Saurabh Tiwary, after bringing the field up on the leg side, he strayed in line to leak runs just before AB de Villiers took medium pa**cer Raiphy Vincent Gomez to the cleaners and changed the game.

Even the great Muttiah Muralithar*an was not in his element trying a leg stump line to the right-handers. The left-arm spin of Ravindra Jadeja too did not prove to be as restrictive as expected.

S Sreesanth and R Vinay Kumar did produce a couple of skillful deliveries to be among the wickets but neither could sustain the pressure.

Captain Mahela Jayawardene and coach Geoff Lawson have been stressing in every interaction that the team has a bunch of very talented and enthusiastic young cricketers.

With the KTK management facing ticketing troubles back home and fans not filling up the gallery at their home venue here, a better performance fr*om their bowlers, and a win, would go a long way in bringing in positive vibes to its home base.

Keywords: Sports news, Ravindra Jadeja,KTK management, IPL, Mahela Jayawardene, Geoff Lawson