The penultimate round of matches in the regular Indian Premier League season continues on Monday when the top two in the IPL 2021 table meet as the Delhi Capitals face off against the Chennai Super Kings in Dubai.
These two have been the two best sides this season and the reward for whoever wins this match is a guaranteed spot in the top two at the end of the season. That means they will get two bites at a place in the final so there is plenty at stake here. This could also be a dress rehearsal for the final so both teams will be eager to put a marker down.
Delhi Capitals
Although they won their previous match, the Delhi Capitals will probably be delighted to be out of Sharjah for this match. That pitch doesn’t suit their skills are all whereas the one here in Dubai is much better for their batters. Delhi have won three of their four matches in the UAE leg of the tour but I think it is fair to say that we haven’t really seen the best of them. A bit of a struggle with balancing their side and the tiring pitches are largely the reason for that.
They have already qualified for the playoffs so the Capitals might look at their options and see if they can come up with the right combinations and balance in this match, although securing a top two finish would be of more importance so that might have to wait. In the main their bowlers are all delivering the goods so all they really need to work out is how to make the best use of the batters they have at their disposal.
Chennai Super Kings
The Chennai Super Kings have rightly received plenty of credit for their season so far, although if they needed a reminder that they are not invincible then it came the other day when the Rajasthan Royals blew them out of the water. There was a sense that the Super Kings were resting and rotating and if they were then the fringe cast didn’t really cover themselves in glory and that might cost those players a spot deeper into the campaign.
The positive from that showing against the Royals was that their batsmen fired once again. Although it was an opener who scored the bulk of the runs, they scored right down the order and that is something that is significant. The issue came with the ball, partly because I would imagine they were taken by surprise by the approach of the Rajasthan batsmen but also because they have already qualified for the playoffs so it is inevitable there would be a subconscious lowering of intensity, especially with matches coming thick and fast.
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Key Men
We haven’t really seen the best of Rishabh Pant in this tournament but you get the feeling if the Delhi Capitals are going to win their first title then at some point in the postseason they will need their captain to stand up and be counted. If he could lay a marker down here it would do no harm.
Moeen Ali hasn’t had the breakout match with the bat since the restart but with no pressure on his innings here it wouldn’t surprise me if it comes in this outing. Even if it doesn’t the England man is a key figure here because the Capitals’ batting is loaded with left handers which brings his off spin into play.
Betting
The first meeting between these two sides was high scoring and I fancy this one might be as well given that both teams can play with a little bit of freedom knowing that they are in the postseason and can concentrate on getting one of the other. That means that both batting units have the licence to get stuck in and we’ve seen the top orders of both teams in decent form. There is a slight doubt over the Delhi latter order but there is too much quality for that not to come good at some point.
The run line for this one is 315.5 which isn’t particularly high when you consider the amount of runs scored in the last Chennai Super Kings match. This track in Dubai isn’t playing that badly so there is no reason why the runs won’t continue to flow. Delhi might send a Shimron Hetmyer or someone of that ilk up the order as they search for the right balance which would do the run scoring no harm but whoever gets them and how they get them I like the over here.
Tips
Back Over 315.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betway
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