UP Wizards to take on Waveriders tomorrow

Lucknow: Delhi Waveriders and Uttar Pradesh Wizards, the two unbeaten sides of the Hockey India League, will face each other in a highly anticipated clash here on Saturday.

Waveriders are on high after winning their first two matches and would look to continue the momentum when they take on Wizards who beat Jaypee Punjab Warriors in their opening match on Thursday. Wizards, on the other, would look to tame the challenge of the Sardar Singh-led team, in their first home game of the tournament here at the Guru Gobind Singh Sports College. Spanish midfielder pair of David Alegre and Jeroen Hertzberger combined brilliantly to score in their opener against Warriors and the Waveriders would do well to control them, as well as Wizards` skipper VR Raghunath. The resolute defence by the Wizards in their last match would have impressed coach Roelant Oltmans, who has also been appointed as the Indian hockey`s high performance director. The match is scheduled to begin at 11.30 am and hence takes the dew factor and weather conditions out of the equations. Waveriders would be fresh after their two-day rest and would be raring to keep their top spot in the standings. Drag flicker Rupinder Pal Singh found his form in their previous game against Mumbai and opened his account for the tournament with a penalty corner. The team would be expecting a similar performance from their star drag flicker, while Wizards would be wary of his goal-scoring abilities. Waveriders, known for their attacking flair, dominated three of the four quarters against Magicians and a similar game is expected tomorrow. "The team is very confident since we have performed consistently and won two matches. Our aggressive strategy seems to be working for us and we plan to play according it. We plan to deliver to the best of our ability to win yet another match tomorrow against Uttar Pradesh Wizards," skipper Sardar stated. "The boys have put up a great show up till now in the first two matches. A good attacking and defensive approach has taken us to the top of the table and we plan to continue in the way. The `talent pool` has performed very well in the last two matches and we are very confident that we will win the third match as well," Delhi Waveriders coach Ajay Kumar Bansal said. PTI