The Indian Premier League is back in Sharjah on Friday for what should be a cracking encounter between the Rajasthan Royals and the Delhi Capitals as we head towards the halfway mark in the campaign over the weekend.
The Royals have hit the wall in recent times so they will be eager to get back to winning ways here while the Capitals are going along very nicely and will be looking to continue on their merry way over the course of the 40 overs.
Rajasthan Royals
After winning their opening two matches, the Rajasthan Royals have now lost three on the spin. It won’t be lost on them that they two games they won were both here in Sharjah so that will provide them with some much needed confidence heading into this contest. If they are going to complete a hat-trick of successes on this ground then their batsmen are going to need to return to the party having offered up three laboured displays since leaving here.
The other issue Rajasthan have has been their bowling attack. With the exception of Jofra Archer it has gone round the park a little too much. That is something that will need to be rectified at some point although it probably isn’t for now because matches here so far suggest we are in for a high scoring batting blitz. With that in mind, it will be interesting to see if they get rid of one of those expensive bowlers and add more depth to the batting.
Delhi Capitals
The Delhi Capitals have no such issues. They are in spellbinding form at the minute and really do look to have all bases covered. When I look for a T20 side I want clever openers who can get the scoring up and running without slogging or being reckless, power at the end of the innings, good spin bowlers and at least one top class depth bowler and Delhi don’t just tick every box, they have depth in each requirement so between now and the end of the season they are going to take some stopping.
The only other box that the Capitals need to tick before we take them as seriously as it is possible to do is see them win a match chasing. Admittedly they have only chased on one occasion but that is the only game they lost. If they want to win this competition they will need to be able to win matches chasing as well as setting. They are so powerful with bat and ball I don’t see it being an issue but for peace of mind it would be nice to see them chase and get over the line. If that is going to happen here is a pretty good place to start with this small ground very hard to defend.
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Key Men
Jos Buttler will be a key man for the Rajasthan Royals but with Ravi Ashwin in the opposition he doesn’t need to be leaving his ground early. He is the one who can launch the Royals innings from the start and there is no time for stalling on this ground. Rajasthan need him to go big.
Rishabh Pant still hasn’t got out of the 30s in this competition yet but he has been remarkably consistent in his innings. The pocket powerhouse is sure to light this tournament up at some stage and if it is here the Capitals will be in a very good position.
Betting
It is hard not to like the sixes in this match. We know that this is a small ground and there hasn’t been a match here since Sunday so the pitches have had chance to get a bit of recovery time and we should be on a fresh wicket as a result of that. That opens up the likelihood of another run fest where the batsmen are going to be standing and delivering and clouting the ball over boundaries which are incredibly tiny.
The concern would be that the Rajasthan Royals have gone into their shell with the bat a little in recent times but the two innings they have played on this ground have totalled 216/7 and 226/6 and have had 17 and 18 sixes in them. That makes the 22.5 sixes line look a little on the low side and when you factor in the likes of Shaw, Dhawan, Iyer, Pant, Hetmyer and Stoinis will be clouting for the other side it looks even smaller. Even at 8/11 I can’t ignore over 22.5 sixes here.
Tips
Back Over 22.5 sixes for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with William Hill
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