As always when a weekend comes around we have a double header in the Indian Premier League on Saturday and the opening match this week comes from Hyderabad as the defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad take on the Rising Pune Supergiant.
This is one of the biggest matches in the IPL season so far as the Sunrisers head into the match in fourth spot in the table with the Supergiant one spot above them in third. The winners here should make the playoffs while the losers could leave themselves exposed to the chasing pack.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
The defending champions had a two match winning streak ended last time out when they were beaten in Delhi. That continued what has been a pretty lame record on the road for the Sunrisers this season so they will be delighted to be back in home surroundings for this match. They know what a win here means.
One of the positives for the Sunrisers whether it has been at home or away has been their batting which has suddenly caught fire. Dave Warner is the leading scorer in the tournament while Shikhar Dhawan heads into the weekend in sixth place in the run list. Bhuvneshwar Kumar leads the wicket taking with Rashid Khan in a tie for eighth.
Rising Pune Supergiant
It is now six wins in seven matches for the Rising Pune Supergiant heading into this match and if they can find another couple of wins they will be in the playoffs which would be a remarkable turnaround from what was a pretty poor start to the campaign. A win here against a playoff rival could give them a psychological edge.
Pune’s bowling has come on leaps and bounds in this run that they have embarked on. Their Indian bowlers have really come to the fore and that has taken the pressure off their batting which all added together has allowed this run to develop. They have won matches from all situations which will help too.
Team News
Ashish Nehra is said to be close to a return to fitness in which case he could be in line for a recall. One of Deepak Hooda and Bipul Sharma will play and the other will miss out.
Rising Pune will have Imran Tahir available for this match but then he and Faf du Plessis are set to leave for a South Africa training camp before their tour of England.
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Betting
I think this is a really tough match to bet on. We have the Sunrisers who are excellent at home against the form side in the competition so something will have to give in this one and I’m not sure who it will be.
One bet I do like comes in the boundaries where the 41.5 line doesn’t look high enough. These two sides are two of the best batting sides in the competition at the minute and on a roasting hot day in Hyderabad with a fast outfield we should expect to see the ball doing some travelling. Both teams attack and target the stumps which can bring wickets but at the cost of boundaries.
The last two matches here have yielded 46 and 43 boundaries and given the way Pune are batting at the minute I’m expecting another total in the mid-forties.
Tips
Back Over 41.5 boundaries for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
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