The second half of the double header of action in the Indian Premier League on Sunday sees the IPL 2024 competition heading to Visakhapatnam for the first time as the Delhi Capitals go up against the Chennai Super Kings.
The Capitals will go in search of their first win of the season in this match whereas the defending champions Chennai will be looking to continue their undefeated start to their title defence so this one is nicely poised.
Delhi Capitals
To be fair, this looked like being a tricky season for the Delhi Capitals because they just don’t look particularly well balanced. They continue to load their side and squad with Australian players but at no stage, with the exception of maybe Dave Warner, do they look comfortable in the conditions, and even then Warner might only be comfortable because he faces pace at the top of the order. When you combine that with questionable home depth it is not a recipe for success.
As a result, it can’t really be a surprise that the Capitals have lost both of their opening two matches and really had it not been for some late hitting when the game was done in the second match, they would have been beaten pretty convincingly in both. Delhi have an issue at the back end of their bowling innings. They have allowed carnage to ensue on both occasions and that is only going to put pressure on a batting order which looks light and unbalanced.
Chennai Super Kings
The Chennai Super Kings have no such worries on those fronts. While success brings about the trophies and all the other material things, what it also offers in franchise tournaments is the ability to not have to change too much and continue to build and evolve in an incremental way and the Super Kings are certainly reaping those rewards. They have a core of their side who have played for them for a while and the players they have brought in are included for specific roles.
With that, they have a deep batting unit who know how to get the job done in this tournament. It helps that conditions in Chennai are a bit different to elsewhere but in a lot of cases in these franchise events recruiting for your home conditions is the ultimate skill required. Chennai bat deep but they have a top class bowling unit that rarely gets carted because they keep things tight at the top end and then bowl very well when batters are coming at them.
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Key Players
There are a lot of left handers in this Chennai Super Kings batting unit so you would imagine that Kuldeep Yadav will be a big player for the home side in this one. He might want to avoid bowling to Daryl Mitchell though who carted him to all parts in the World Cup.
Shivam Dube is making a huge case for being included in the India World Cup squad for the tournament in the West Indies in a couple of months with his finishing ability. He could fill his boots at the back end here against a Delhi side who are terrible at the death.
Betting
I don’t see where the Delhi Capitals can punch enough holes into this Chennai Super Kings side to get the better of them. I actually think the Super Kings match up very well to the Capitals and I expect that to be played out on the scoreboard. The last three meetings between these two have all been won by Chennai but it is the margin of victory which has been the most alarming. They have won by 91 runs, 27 runs and 77 runs so they are clearly dominant in this fixture.
You can get the Super Kings to win on a handicap which is 4.5 wickets or just 8.5 runs and clearly the latter half of that equation looks very strong when you consider their recent wins but even if they are chasing we have already seen Delhi lose quite tamely to Punjab Kings when they have bowled second and with Chennai having so much batting depth I expect someone in their top five to lead a run chase. I’d prefer it if Chennai bat first but even if they chase this line looks too low to me.
Tips
Back Chennai Super Kings (-4.5wickets/8.5runs) to beat Delhi Capitals for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
