The second half of the double header of action in the Indian Premier League on Sunday sees the event heading back to the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai where the Delhi Capitals go up against the Punjab Kings.
Both these sides suffered disappointing defeats last time out when their top orders were shot to pieces so it will be interesting to see which one bounces back in the style required to move themselves to two wins from three for the campaign.
Delhi Capitals
After the way they dominated the Chennai Super Kings in their opening match, the Delhi Capitals looked like they were a better version of the side which made it all the way to the final in the UAE last season. They received something of a reality check in the second game though when their top order got ahead of itself and succumbed to a rather disappointing defeat in the end to an admittedly good on the day Rajasthan Royals outfit.
That means the two performances they have put on have been chalk and cheese. They surprisingly changed their batting line up in that previous match and clearly that didn’t work so it will be interesting to see if they go back to their tried and tested one. They do have Amrich Nortje available here which will help them with the ball if they do come unstuck with the bat once again, but you’d think they would need to bat properly here.
Punjab Kings
It was a similar story for the Punjab Kings in their last match. They were ripped apart by the opening spell of Deepak Chahar and could never get anything into their innings. It will be interesting to see if they are a little more circumspect initially to build a platform for their innings because their middle order can certainly catch up if they have that foundation to strike from. One thing which might detract them from doing that is their bowling can be expensive and they know they need every run they can get.
That is the big issue for the Punjab Kings. Their attack is very much the same with two Australian pacers and a couple of Indian quicks who all deliver the same sort of stuff. Batsmen can sit on them and target them when need be so they are crying out for a different option. With Chris Gayle in form though they will either have to rest an overseas bowler or just hope that the bowlers they pick do their job better than they have in the last season and a bit.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account to get up to £25 in free bets! Perfect offer for this tournament! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Key Men
I often feel you can tell how a Delhi Capitals innings will go by the sort of start that Prithvi Shaw gets them off to. If he sets a base they go very well but if he is dismissed early they often get caught between going too hard and not knowing when to push and ending up nowhere.
KL Rahul is usually the catalyst to any decent score that the Punjab Kings make so he needs to make sure he gets into his innings here and then pick up as he goes through the gears. He is another who can catch up from a slow start but his attendance at the crease gives off a positive outlook for everyone else.
Betting
The last two matches here have been very low scoring but just how much of that was condition based or just poor batting I’m not sure. The second to last one, which involved the Delhi Capitals, saw less than 300 runs in it but there were still 39 boundaries even though Delhi were 37-4 just after the powerplay. That suggests that the wicket isn’t as bad as the scores have suggested in that time and even the latest game, where 106 was the highest score, had 26 boundaries in it.
That makes me think we just had a couple of coincidental matches where both top orders had bad days batting first rather than anything to suggest that the Wankhede has just gone into a crumbling heap. Matches involving these two teams tend to be high scoring with the power they have in their batting so I’ll back them both to be a little more sensible up top and put down a platform for a big score. I’ll go with over 44.5 boundaries here.
Tips
WON – Back Over 44.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2021
