We have arguably the most important match of the Indian Premier League so far on Monday when the Kolkata Knight Riders take on the Kings XI Punjab with the competition heading back to Sharjah for this game.
Kolkata go into the contest in fourth in the table while the Kings XI are fifth but whoever wins the match will finish the night in the final play-off spot with just two matches remaining for each in the regular season.
Kolkata Knight Riders
It looked like the Kolkata Knight Riders were fading fast and going to get pipped at the line in the race for the top four but then from nowhere they produced a brilliant all-round display to see off the Delhi Capitals and keep themselves not just in control of their own destiny for fourth spot in the table but still in the hunt to finish top of the pile. A win here will all but sew up their play-off spot and will see them with every chance of bypassing the eliminator if they win their last two games.
You didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to know what changed for the Knight Riders in the previous match. They batted like they can, helped out by some rare pathetic bowling from the Delhi Capitals, and then with the confidence of a big total to defend their bowlers stood up and were counted right from the start. The key now is to make those batting displays more like the norm rather than the terrible effort that went before it when they couldn’t even score 90.
Kings XI Punjab
Having seemingly looked down and out at the halfway mark of the tournament, the Kings XI are now on a run of four successive wins and having found every way possible to lose matches earlier in the campaign, they now can’t seem to lose even when they are way behind in a match. They had no right to beat the Sunrisers Hyderabad last time out but they we rewarded for hanging in there and holding their nerve when the pressure arrived.
That was the first time in this four match winning run that they did not bat well so they’ll be looking to get back to offering their best efforts with the bat. The one thing which did become apparent in that win over the Sunrisers was that their bowling can defend small totals. Kings XI know their season is on the line here as it is going to need something special for them to qualify if they lose this and drop four points behind the play-off spots.
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Key Men
Sunil Narine returned in brilliant fashion in the previous match and he will be a key player for the Kolkata Knight Riders in this game. Kings XI like to squeeze with the spinners and he belts them miles and his clash against Chris Gayle with the ball in hand could decide the match.
Glenn Maxwell needs to come to the party for the Kings XI Punjab at some point and if Kolkata Knight Riders open with Nitish Rana then his off spin could be as useful as any runs that he can provide down the innings. He’s been too quiet for far too long.
Betting
The pitch might have slowed up in Sharjah but the boundaries line still feels quite low at 41.5. The last two matches here saw 47 boundaries in what I would call a proper match and then the Mumbai Indians hit 18 boundaries in less than 10 overs so it might be that just like we’ve seen in Abu Dhabi the pitches have come back to life as we use the outside strips on the squares and things. If that is the case these powerful sides could obliterate this total.
Even if it isn’t the case though the boundaries are still going to be accessible because I think these two attacks plays right into the strengths of the opposition batsmen. We saw that when these two produced one of the higher scoring matches at Abu Dhabi in the early part of the season. On that occasion there were 38 boundaries on a ground where hitting them is much tougher than it is here. With that in mind, I think the over is the way to go here.
Tips
Back Over 41.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
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