The task ahead of Kings XI Punjab is simple: beat Deccan Chargers by as big a margin as possible on Saturday. Mumbai Indians' sorry show against Rajasthan Royals has brightened Punjab's prospects, and provided them with windows of opportunity at both ends of the Net Run-Rate curve. Punjab are already ahead of Mumbai on NRR, and if they win by a big enough margin, they will leapfrog Kolkata as well, reducing the final league game into a shoot-out. If, on the other hand, Punjab win by a small margin, they will remain behind Kolkata on NRR, and will want Mumbai to either lose, or win by a margin huge enough to pull Kolkata to fifth on the table. All these permutations, however, will count for nought if Punjab lose against Deccan.
The possibilities are endless, and the situation calls for cool heads that can ignore the distractions and approach the game with uncluttered minds. In captain Adam Gilchrist and coach Michael Bevan, Punjab have just the men for the job. So far, Punjab's campaign has hurtled along like a chronic insomniac over-dosing on sleeping pills: with arguably the weakest side on paper in the competition, they have been through a three-match winning streak and a five-game losing run, followed by four successive wins. Can they hold it together for one last game?
The dark cloud in Punjab's horizon is that, if they can't pull off a big win today, Kolkata and Mumbai will know exactly what they need to do when they play their last game. The darker cloud - literally - is that a rain-out in Kolkata will knock out Punjab irrespective of Saturday's outcome. The silver lining is that the normally meek Deccan are further weakened by the absence of Kumar Sangakkara, and have little to play for at the end of a forgettable season. The hills in Dharamsala could witness an interesting duel today.
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