The weekend has arrived which means it is time for another Indian Premier League double header with the first match on Saturday coming from Pune as the struggling Rising Pune Supergiant take on the defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Both these sides have had their issues this season but they both head into the contest off the back of a win in their last match so someone is going to lay the platform for a really good boost in their form by winning this one.
Rising Pune Supergiant
To be fair until their last match Pune had been awful in this competition. In all my previews involving them I have highlighted the issues they have with an overseas captain and their most expensive player also being from overseas and we have seen the results of that but their Indian players stepped up in the last game which offers some encouragement.
If the Supergiant are to make a run for it this season they will need their Indian players to continue to deliver the goods especially the bowlers as that is the area where they are most exposed due to the overseas captain. They gave themselves something to build on with their win in Bangalore and another win here would have them back in a good spot.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
There has been a pattern to the form of the Sunrisers so far this season. They won their first two matches quite convincingly and then lost their next two but have rebounded again and won their most recent two matches. They will now hope to buck that trend and win a third match for the first time this season.
In the two recent wins the Sunrisers have shown the depth they have in their squad. Mohammad Nabi came in for the win over the Kings XI and made a big impact and the same can be said for Kane Williamson when he came into the fray in the win over Delhi. Players coming in and delivering is a massive thing in the IPL.
Team News
Rising Pune are likely to stick with something like an unchanged line up. With all the left handers in the Sunrisers side it would make sense to only play the one leg spinner which will probably be Imran Tahir.
Sunrisers Hyderabad may go in with an unchanged side too given how successful Kane Williamson was last time out. If they do make a change it could be one of the Indian lower order players.
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Betting
The Sunrisers are probably the rightful favourites in this match but away wins in this competition have been quite rare overall and their record away from home certainly leaves a bit to be desired so I’m heading to the side markets for my bets on this one.
I’m expecting a fairly high scoring game here but even if it isn’t terribly high scoring I still think we are going to get a lot of boundaries. Three of the four innings on this ground this season have seen scores soar past 175 and as a result the boundary counts have been 47 and 38 with the latter coming when one innings only contained 108 runs. This is clearly a place for boundaries and with no match here in 11 days the pitch should be great for batting and the boundaries should flow again.
Manoj Tiwary produced a knock which took Pune’s last match away from Bangalore and it was the kind of knock which could see him moved up the order. He can play the longer innings as he has shown on many occasions but the fact he can play the splat it to all parts innings too makes him a genuine top batsman danger. Should be bat up the order, and there is a real case for him batting above Dhoni and Stokes, then 20/1 on him to top score would be huge.
Tips
WON – Back Over 41.5 boundaries for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
Back it here:
Back M.Tiwary Top Rising Pune Supergiant Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 21.00 with Paddy Power
Back him here:
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