The Indian Premier League season continues on Tuesday as the Kings XI Punjab hope to build on their win last time out when they host the Kolkata Knight Riders in Mohali in a match which has an interesting feel about it.
Kings XI Punjab
After back to back defeats, and very tepid defeats at that, to start the season the Kings XI were under big pressure when they went into battle against the Rising Pune Supergiants last time out but a change up in their bowling attack and their big batsmen coming to play meant a difference in fortunes and they ran out surprising winners.
The good thing for the Punjab team is that their captain David Miller and Shaun Marsh haven’t really done much in the tournament yet so there is even more to come from them when they fire. Kyle Abbott looked much more threatening with the ball too.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Apart from one bowling innings the Knight Riders have been very good in this tournament and they already seem to have put that defeat to Mumbai behind them. A win here will send them right up towards the top of the table and they will be in a good position to challenge for the title again.
Man for man you would have to say Kolkata have one of the strongest squads in the tournament. In their last match against the Sunrisers they had 10 men with international appearances in their side and that experience can be invaluable in a tournament like this.
Team news
Kings XI Punjab made the necessary changes to their side for their previous game and they worked a treat. Having picked up the win they so needed last time out I’m not envisaging any changes unless they are forced late on.
Kolkata Knight Riders will definitely be without John Hastings. He has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament so he will certainly be missing. He didn’t play in the last match anyway so the former champions can be unchanged should they wish to be.
Form
Kings XI Punjab: LLW
Kolkata Knight Riders: WLW
Head to head: Kings XI Punjab 6-11 Kolkata Knight Riders
In Mohali: Kings XI Punjab 2-2 Kolkata Knight Riders
PCA Stadium
For the last month we’ve seen this wicket in Mohali as a good one for batting on. Eventually with all the cricket the place has had over the last little while that will change as the square will tire but for now there are no signs that we’ll get anything other than a good batting deck here.
Scores haven’t been as high in this tournament as we have come to expect but that is largely because the boundaries on the ground are so big and finding them takes a right old biff. I’d be surprised if this isn’t high scoring though.
Betting
This is another game where I fancy Kolkata Knight Riders to win but they are short enough to swerve in the face of Kings XI’s improvement last time out. I’d want a bit bigger to be tempted in on the home side so I’ll leave the match betting alone once again.
This time I’m going to focus on the sixes market where although a line of 9.5 doesn’t sound high I think it will be high enough. This is a massive ground and neither match here so far has covered this line.
Against the Gujarat Lions there were six sixes despite the appearance of Finch, McCullum, Raina et al and in the previous game against the Supergiants there were just four so that suggests the line is high but when we factor in the quality of this Kolkata bowling attack and the fact Gambhir is in great form and likely to spend plenty of time at the crease I feel the total sixes will remain quite low.
Tips
WON – Back Under 9.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 2.05 with Betfair
Back it here:
