The second Indian Premier League match on Sunday comes from the Wankhede Stadium as two sides who have made decent beginnings to their campaign meet when the Rajasthan Royals take on the Lucknow Super Giants.
Both teams have more wins on their record than losses so they will each be looking to push on and make the most of the platform they have laid for themselves which should make for yet another decent game of cricket.
Rajasthan Royals
Those who read my outright preview will know that I’ve been pretty keen on the Rajasthan Royals throughout the campaign and it looked like they were going to win their opening three matches when they had Royal Challengers Bangalore in a world of pain last time out. They were unable to get the job done at the end though and suffered what would have been an eye opening defeat even though they didn’t a whole lot wrong other than struggle with the lengths in the dewy conditions.
The Royals have a hugely powerful batting unit and they have been able to put up scores which their bowlers have been able to defend in two of their three matches and but for an incredible partnership deep in the Bangalore innings they would have made that three times in succession. I don’t think Rajasthan will panic after their defeat last time out but will hope that it just focuses them to manage themselves better should a similar situation occur.
Lucknow Super Giants
After losing their opening game which they were in control of for much of the second innings, the Lucknow Super Giants have posted three wins. They have done them in different styles as well they have won chasing a big score, won chasing a relatively small total and they have won when they have set a score so they have all baes covered which should give them plenty of confidence as they head through the remainder of the season.
If there is an area which could be exposed then it might be their bowlers. They have a number of spin options but Ravi Bishnoi aside they can all be got after and with the power the Rajasthan batters have that could be a concern. What they don’t lack for though is batting depth and that will always make them dangerous. They don’t just have lots of batting but they have some world class batters at their disposal.
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Key Players
The Rajasthan Royals will need early wickets in this match if they are to make life a little comfortable for themselves. The last thing they need is KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock getting off to a good start and letting the rest of the Lucknow order to flourish so Trent Boult will be key for the Royals here.
The same thing applies for the Lucknow Super Giants so the new ball spell of Jason Holder could be vitally important. While his four overs will be key his late order hitting is another area where the Super Giants can propel their chances of winning.
Betting
There aren’t too many what I would call natural six hitters in the Lucknow Super Giants’ ranks and the ones which are there tend to bat further down the order so I fancy that the Rajasthan Royals can hit the most sixes in this match. Rajasthan have six hitters from the top right into the depth of their order but perhaps more importantly they have a couple of quality new ball bowlers who don’t go for many and a couple of spinners who are hard to pick and get away as well. Lucknow have hit 25 sixes in their four matches so far but half a dozen of those have come from Ayush Badoni who will bat down at six. Rajasthan have hit 36 sixes in three matches with 24 of those coming from their top three so I like Rajasthan to hit the most sixes here.
I’ll also have a small play on Ayush Badoni to be the top scorer for Lucknow Super Giants. At 11/1 he feels a big price considering he is going to bat at six and we just saw the Rajasthan latter overs bowling get carted to all parts by Dinesh Karthik and Shahbaz Ahmed, the latter hardly known for his batting exploits. Badoni opened the tournament with 54 and has made a couple of cameos since then so if Trent Boult and friends can get rid of the top order the youngster clearly has what it takes to take advantage of that.
Tips
Back Rajasthan Most 6s for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with Bet365
Back A.Badoni Top Lucknow Super Giants Batter for a 1/10 stake at 11.00 with Bet365
