The Indian Premier League moves back to Dubai on Wednesday for what should be a cracking game between the Rajasthan Royals and the Kolkata Knight Riders as two of the more explosive teams in the competition battle it out.
Only two points separate all eight sides in the competition after the Sunrisers Hyderabad got off the mark on Tuesday which means that for the next week or so the points will be extremely sought after and should ensure some competitive action.
Rajasthan Royals
The only unbeaten team left in the competition are the Rajasthan Royals and they will look to continue their good form in this match. They have played both their matches so far in Sharjah so they will need to adapt to the bigger ground here although in truth this one isn’t massive by any means. The Royals have been involved in a couple of high scoring matches to date and when you look down their team that might be a trend that continues.
The one thing we’ve seen from Rajasthan so far in the tournament is they are flexible with their batting line up but at the same time they can be guilty of overthinking things. The decision to move Rahul Tewatia in the last game was on the fringes of being a shocking one but he came good at just the right time. The one thing the Royals need is another bowler or two to back up Jofra Archer as everyone else seems to be going around the park at the minute.
Kolkata Knight Riders
It has been a heavy defeat and a pretty comfortable win for the Kolkata Knight Riders so far this season but with the win coming in their latest outing they have something to build on and will be looking to do exactly that here. The big positive for the Knight Riders between the loss and that win over the Sunrisers is that they immediately recognised the need to change their bowling make up and having done that they had immediate success.
We probably shouldn’t judge the success of that decision based on an innings against a pretty light Sunrisers batting unit but we can certainly do so here if they can come up with the goods. Perhaps the best thing to happen in that previous match was three key players in Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana and Eoin Morgan are all looking good with the bat. It should only be a matter of time before the rest of the top six follow them.
Special Offer
Sign up for an account on the Betfair Exchange and get a free £20 risk free bet to use on the IPL! Click the image below to bet. 18+ T&Cs apply. New accounts only. Gamble Aware.
New customers only, bet up to £20 on the Exchange and if your first bet loses, we’ll refund you £20 in Cash. Bet must be placed in first 7 days of account opening. Click the above image to bet. T&Cs apply. Payment restrictions apply.
Key Men
This Kolkata Knight Riders batting can quickly get away from teams if they are not careful so it is important for the Rajasthan Royals that Jofra Archer doesn’t just keep things tight here but that he comes up with early wickets as well.
Pat Cummins is playing under the pressure of a huge price tag in this tournament and after looking like a complete flop in the opening game, he showed why KKR were prepared to pay the amount of money that they did for him in the last match. Another showing like that would give the Knight Riders every chance.
Betting
I’m expecting to see a few sixes here. We’ve got two of the bigger hitting sides in the competition on show here and although Rajasthan have only played on the smaller track in Sharjah, some of their sixes would have been sixes anywhere, while we know all about the hitting mite that the Kolkata Knight Riders have. The one thing these two teams do not lack is clean hitters of the cricket ball and we should see that play out here I believe.
Although this is a bigger ground than the one in Dubai, the last match here had 26 sixes in it and we are getting to the stage of the tournament where the pitches used are going to start moving around the square which will open up a short boundary somewhere. Both these teams have left-handers who can take advantage of that and you’d have to say that based on what we’ve seen in the tournament so far neither bowling attack are on song. Over 11.5 sixes will do for me here.
Tips
WON – Back Over 11.5 sixes for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with BetVictor
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2020
