The Indian Premier League playoffs begin on Sunday when the table topping Delhi Capitals take on the second placed Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2021 Qualifier 1 in Dubai with the winner heading straight through to the final on Friday.
All is not lost for whoever loses this match though. By finishing in the top two they knew they were guaranteeing a second chance to make the big dance should they lose out in this match, but that is a route neither will want to take.
Delhi Capitals
The Delhi Capitals have been the best team in the IPL 2021 season so far but they go into this match off the back of a defeat to the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their final regular season game on Friday. They actually threw that match away from a winning position and while I’ve no doubt a lot of the complacency around them was because they were already through, we have seen teams lose focus in similar situations in the past and then now be able to find it again when it really matters.
The thing which really let the Capitals down in that match was their fielding so I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear that Ricky Ponting called for extra fielding drills in the run up to this contest. What did serve Delhi well in that loss to the Royal Challengers was that a couple of their middle order batsmen got a bit of time at the crease and looked to find some form. When you consider their bowlers have bowled well all season there is a lot to like about the Capitals here.
Chennai Super Kings
While the Capitals go into this match off the back of one loss, the Chennai Super Kings head into it off the back of three successive losses which is much more of a concern. While all three of those defeats came when they had their playoff spot tied up, they have visibly come off the very top of their form, especially with the ball, and it will be interesting to see if they can find their best level once again. It really isn’t something you can turn on and off like a tap.
There have been two big issues in this recent slump of the Super Kings. The first one is that their bowlers have gone round the ground a couple of times but the other one is that there are two or three players in their middle order that look bang out of form so if their openers don’t deliver the goods you wonder if Chennai will be able to put any kind of a score on the board. They didn’t try to get those players extra time at the crease and that might come back to haunt them.
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
Anrich Nortje has almost gone under the radar this season given the wicket taking exploits of Avesh Khan but the South African is regularly economical and his spell towards the end of the last game set the match up for Delhi to win, only for them to fail to take advantage.
It seems as though Faf du Plessis is the one who determines the flow of the Chennai Super Kings innings. If he gets going early then the rest have confidence to bat around him but if he is out early or starts slowly the innings stays in a bit of a pickle.
Betting
Even though they cost me in the previous match, I’m happy to be on the Delhi Capitals again here. Two matches ago the Capitals saw off the Super Kings even though they didn’t bat particularly well and I don’t expect anything to change here. I think the big difference between these two sides right now is the bowling attack. You just feel that the Delhi attack isn’t going to go around the park very often, where the Chennai one has just gone to all parts in two of their last three matches.
The other thing now that is an issue with Chennai is one or two of their important batters deeper in their order just don’t look in any form whereas the identical players in the Delhi lineup were both given the chance to score a few runs in their last match and took advantage of that. That makes me think that all round Delhi are just the better team and in the better place at the minute and barring something crazy I expect them to get the job done here.
Tips
Back Delhi Capitals to beat Chennai Super Kings for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with BetVictor
Back them here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2021
