There is just the one match in the Indian Premier League on Monday after a weekend of double headers and it comes from the DY Patil Stadium as the Sunrisers Hyderabad take on one of the new franchises in the form of Gujarat Titans.
The Titans are the one remaining unbeaten side in the competition, a record they will be looking to extend in this match while the Sunrisers got off the mark for their season last time out and will want to build on that victory here.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
After a couple of defeats to start their season with the Sunrisers Hyderabad will have been delighted to find that it was third time lucky for them as they got over the line against the Chennai Super Kings over the weekend. Therein lies one concern though. The Super Kings are winless so far this season so did the Sunrisers play well or did they just beat an opponent who were there for the taking? We might only find out the answer to that after this match and as the campaign goes on.
The damage was largely done by the Sunrisers with the ball where a couple of operators were economical and picked up wickets as well. That is important because this is a franchise who have relied on their bowling attack for a lot of the time they have been in existence. The top three scored runs in the win over the Super Kings as well and in a high scoring tournament like this that can’t be a bad thing. It was a good win against Chennai but you sense they will need to improve a touch to follow it up here.
Gujarat Titans
The Gujarat Titans have won all three matches they have played. They have won a couple in epic run chases and they have also won a match when they had to defend a score and I always think that does so much for a dressing room knowing that they can win even when the toss goes against them. They won their last match needing to hit two sixes off the last two balls but that is exactly what happened as the Punjab Kings snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
Those kind of wins make a dressing room feel invincible and while they won’t want it to get into that situation too often, the knowledge that they can win from seemingly impossible situations will be very welcome. The last match was the first time that their bowlers went around the park so that side of their game will want to tighten up once again, although the Punjab Kings are on a different level in terms of their attacking intent.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account to get up to £25 in free bets! Perfect offer for this series! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Key Players
Washington Sundar has shown excellent form with the bat in the opening match and with the ball ever since. He gives Kane Williamson the option to quiet things down in the first six overs or take wickets in the middle overs and he is a commodity the Sunrisers Hyderabad need at his best.
Gujarat Titans spinner Rashid Khan will be playing against his former employers so he will be motivated to deliver the goods. It will be interesting to see if the Sunrisers play him out or know how he bowls and will look to get after him.
Betting
The 338.5 run line looks a little on the high side to me in this match. The main reason I say that is because I’m not sure that the Sunrisers Hyderabad batting unit is good enough to get up to 170 on a pitch which had the ball just sticking into it a little over the weekend. This is a strong Gujarat Titans bowling attack but we saw against the Punjab Kings that their top order with the exception of Shubman Gill isn’t really firing like they would like.
Only two batters have scored more than 70 runs this season for the Gujarat Titans and that would worry me should Gill go early, which he easily could against the Sunrisers’ attack. The Sunrisers also only have two batters with more than 70 runs this term and with Gujarat having a strong bowling attack I’m not sure much is going to change. The big concern for me is the slow starts Kane Williamson is making for the Sunrisers. At times they have been able to recover from them but when you consider there will be four overs of Rashid Khan to come after the initial burst it won’t be easy to catch up here. That might lead to the Hyderabad top order to take more risks around him which plays into the hands of the Titans bowlers. I’ll play the under in that run line.
Tips
Back Under 338.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with Betway
