We have our first double header of action in the Indian Premier League on Saturday and we also see the two remaining sides get their seasons underway. The first of those is the Kings XI Punjab who host the Rising Pune Supergiant in Indore in the first of the two games.
Kings XI will be out to show some improvement after two horrendous campaigns while the Supergiant will be looking to build on a positive beginning to the season in their first match earlier in the week.
Kings XI Punjab
There have been plenty of chances for the Kings XI Punjab over the last couple of seasons and they begin this term with another huge one as Murali Vijay has been ruled out of the tournament leaving Glenn Maxwell as a surprising choice of captain. I say surprising but that is only because the Kings XI have the reigning World T20 winning skipper in their ranks.
If the Kings XI are going to be competitive then they need to formulate a real plan in the field. They then need to execute it. This is Maxwell’s first captaincy appointment and while he is an experienced cricketer this is a tough format to start captaincy life in. He does at least have a very good looking batting depth at his disposal.
Rising Pune Supergiant
After a very indifferent campaign a year ago I’m sure all at the Rising Pune Supergiant will have been delighted to get off to a winning start to this season. That win came against a much fancied Mumbai Indians side on Thursday in a match they pretty much dominated from the outset apart from one crazy over with the ball.
The scorecard will say that match went down to the final ball but in truth Pune always had Mumbai at a safe length and they will argue that the fact Manoj Tiwary never even got to the crease that they have even more to come should they need it. They will need to improve with the ball over the season but they can do that.
Team News
We know Glenn Maxwell will take one of the overseas spots for the Kings XI Punjab but the rest are open to debate. Eoin Morgan carries a decent reputation and could get one but the other two are for anyone. Murali Vijay is out of the tournament.
You would think the Rising Pune Supergiant will kick Ashok Dinda out after his Horlicks of a last over against the Indians. They do have Indian seamers waiting to come into the side so that is an easy switch to make.
Betting
These two were the worst two teams in the competition last season. We’ve already seen a change in fortunes for the Rising Pune Supergiant and the Kings XI Punjab will be out to follow suit and take their lead. In truth though I don’t fancy anything in the match betting stakes with both sides containing plenty of match winners capable of winning the match on their own.
I do like one bet though and it comes in the sixes. This is the first time the Indian Premier League has visited Indore since 2011. There were two matches here that year with the first match seeing 178/7 play 181/4 with 17 sixes and the second match seeing 97 all out playing 98/2 with 11 sixes which highlights the potential for sixes here.
When you add in that we have these opening ceremonies and big things being made of each first home game for all the sides we can be pretty sure of getting a good wicket and with the likes of Marsh, Morgan, Maxwell, Miller, Smith, Dhoni and Stokes among others hitting for us a 10.5 sixes line looks well within reach.
Tips
WON – Back Over 10.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Paddy Power
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