The Indian Premier League continues on Friday when the Delhi Capitals continue to fight positive Covid tests in their camp when they take on the Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium rather than the MCA Stadium it was originally scheduled for.
These two sides have had different starts to their season but as they hit the halfway mark here this is a chance to re-establish themselves as title contenders as we move into the second part of the regular campaign.
Delhi Capitals
With three wins and three defeats in their opening six matches, the Delhi Capitals will be looking for a bit of consistency and to find a run of wins to propel them up the table. When you look at their last performance against the Punjab Kings it is hard to believe they have been beaten at all but they have. I always said that they would get better the longer the competition goes on but whether the Covid problems in the camp will allow that to come true remains to be seen.
The Delhi bowlers stood up and were counted in the previous match against the Kings. Admittedly there was some brain dead batting by their opponents but the bowlers never allowed them the chance to get away and then the short total they had to chase allowed their batters to flourish and find some confidence. If there is a concern it is that there isn’t a huge amount of form below their opening pair with the bat but there is no shortage in quality so you would imagine those players will come good at some point.
Rajasthan Royals
The Rajasthan Royals have won four of their opening six matches and after beating the Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad in their first two victories, wins which didn’t look as strong as they might have done in other seasons, they have now beaten the Lucknow Super Giants and the Kolkata Knight Riders to affirm themselves as title challengers this season. I mentioned ahead of the season that they will be playing with emotional motivation after the passing of Shane Warne and he will be proud of the style the team he mentored and captained to the first IPL title have adopted.
They play an aggressive but good on the eye brand of cricket with the bat with Jos Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer ensuring the scoring ticks over at both ends of the innings and then with the ball they bowl attacking lines with the new ball which means teams have to go after the spinners and succumb to their wizardry. Once in a while their bowlers go around the park but that is as much the ground dimensions as it is anything they do wrong.
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Key Players
David Warner has added a new dimension to the Delhi Capitals batting since he arrived from Pakistan and you get the feeling if he can get his team off to a fast start here it will set them up nicely for the remainder of the game.
Trent Boult will be the man assigned the task of ripping up the opening pair of the Delhi Capitals and you just fancy his new ball spell could determine the outcome of the match. If he gets stuck in early Rajasthan will be well on top. If he doesn’t it could be a long evening.
Betting
The first few matches at the Wankhede Stadium this season were low scoring by the standards of this ground but things have been getting back to normal in recent contests and I expect that trend to continue here. This is usually a high scoring ground with a flat pitch and the ball flying through the air at a rate of knots and with there not having been a match at this venue since last weekend there should be no issues with the quality of the wicket.
When you consider the batters who are on show here and the ones who might just need a night out on a pitch and a ground like this to find some form then I expect this match to be high scoring. The run line here is 333.5 and both teams have played a match at this venue which has gone over that. Rajasthan have conceded 170 or more in four of their last five matches while Delhi haven’t always been tight with the ball. The over looks good to me here.
Tips
Back Over 333.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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