The ILT20 season continues on Friday when we head to Abu Dhabi for the clash between two sides in the top four in the current league table when the defending champions MI Emirates host the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders.
These two teams met earlier in the week when the Emirates outfit came out on top so the Knight Riders will be looking for a bit of revenge in what is likely to be a competitive match given that IPL franchises own these two teams.
MI Emirates
MI Emirates have had an up and down season and they remain a team who when they are good they look a million dollars and when they are not at it they don’t even look like one dollar but this is a side who know how to get the job done when it really matters and after dominating the Knight Riders last time out they will be looking to find some consistency and show just why it is them defending their title. A win here would move MI Emirates four points clear of fifth so they would be looking good for the finals.
You can often tell how well a team is going by their net run rate and when you consider that MI Emirates are only 3-2 for the season, the fact their net run rate is +0.655 suggests that when they win they do it very well. MI Emirates have won their last two with their batting really looking like it is getting going and coming to the fore and that bodes well because they have bowlers in the powerplay who can take wickets and put the pressure on the opposition batting.
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders
The Abu Dhabi Knight Riders will be annoyed that they lost the last game to the MI Emirates but they are still in an acceptable position in the table going forward. They sit fourth but their net run rate isn’t too bad and a win here is highly likely to move them up to third in the table as we get ready to enter the business end of the regular season. Abu Dhabi wouldn’t be out of things if they lose here but they would be under a little more pressure.
If there is a positive in having a 2-3 record halfway through their campaign, it would be that Abu Dhabi have got three of the four games against the current top two out of the way. They have lost all three but not many teams are getting the better of the Desert Vipers or MI Emirates at the minute. This will be their final crack at one of the top two in the current table and after this they have four matches against the lesser sides to get stuck into.
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Key Players
Romario Shepherd showed his all-round skills in the last game when he plundered an unbeaten 38 from just 13 balls and then took 2-14 from his two overs. If he has a similarly good game here it would look good for MI Emirates.
Kyle Mayers opens the batting for the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders and he also opens the bowling so they could do with him bringing out his best cricket over the second half of the regular season and if he does they should be fine to make it into the top four.
Betting
I took the performance of Jason Holder when these two met earlier in the week and he had it covered in the first innings long before he needed to put his pads on and I wouldn’t be surprised if something similar happens here. He had a line of 27.5 earlier in the week and it has only gone up to 29.5 even though he scored 46 points which consisted of him batting at 10 which isn’t likely to happen very often it has to be said.
That midweek outing means that he has now taken two or more wickets in his last four matches in this competition and if he takes two more here then we will have this performance in the bag in the one innings once again. Were he to take a catch we would only need one wicket from his bowling effort for the over to land but he is likely to get more of a knock with the bat, especially if Abu Dhabi bat first, and however it is done I like the over to land once again.
Tips
Back J.Holder’s Performance – Over 29.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365