DUBAI // The way Glenn Maxwell and David Miller have been batting this season, King's XI Punjab should probably not fear any bowling attack, but the captain George Bailey concedes he is "wary" of the Sunrisers Hyderabad ahead of their clash in Sharjah on Tuesday night.
Maxwell has played two jaw-dropping knocks of 95 and 89, while Miller has a tally of 105 in two games where King’s XI have chased down 205 and 191 with little concern.
But with South African paceman Dale Steyn leading their attack and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra part of the support act, the Sunrisers could provide a sterner challenge for Bailey’s blockbuster batting unit.
“Not just their bowling, I think their batting is very strong, too,” Bailey said.
“I think they are just a very well-balanced team. They didn’t probably bat as well as they would have liked in that first game [against the Rajasthan Royals when they scored 133-6], but their bowling almost dragged them back into it.
“That’s how good it is. So we’ve just got to be aware of that and, once again, sum up the conditions because they may different again tomorrow. So, certainly very wary of their bowlers. I don’t think there’s any weak links.”
Bailey was a little less adamant about his own bowling unit and admitted that it has not been up to the mark, especially Mitchell Johnson, who is coming back from a toe infection that ruled him out of the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.
“I think it would take him [Johnson] a little bit of time to get into his rhythm,” Bailey said.
“I certainly thought in his last couple of overs last night [on Sunday], he started to hit his straps.
“I know from his own words he was feeling pretty rusty in the first game. Felt better again last night. So I imagine we’ll just continue to see him improve as he gets a bit of fitness back.”
Despite their modest score in the first outing, the Sunrisers took the match into the final over and coach Tom Moody was pleased to see the fight his team put up. Preparing for their second game, a good deal of the focus at their team meetings has been about devising ways to halt Maxwell’s dominance.
“We are pretty aware of what his strengths are,” Moody said.
“But, at the end of the day, he is like any other top-quality player. When they get going, they are hard to stop.”
arizvi@thenational.ae
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