The final set of matches in the regular season in the Indian Premier League begins in the picturesque Dharamsala on Friday when the Punjab Kings and the Rajasthan Royals look to keep their IPL 2023 campaign alive.
The equation for these two is very simple. Win and win as big as possible and then sit back and hope results over the weekend go their way. Given the need of these two teams we could see some real fireworks here.
Punjab Kings
The Punjab Kings looked like they were in position to launch a bid to qualify comfortably for the finals when they had won five of their opening nine matches, even though they were struggling to find consistency both in their play and in their results. Unfortunately for them things have taken a nosedive in their last four matches and just a solitary win in that time has left them scrambling to a relatively forlorn hope to qualify.
The big issue for the Kings is they have lost the plot mentally. Some of the decisions that have been made in the last couple of matches have made absolutely no sense whatsoever and their tournament life is hanging by a thread as a result of that. Clearly they are going to have to go very big with the bat to keep their season alive here but they will also need their bowlers to deliver the goods. Bowling the right bowlers in the best places would be a start.
Rajasthan Royals
The Rajasthan Royals have arguably had an even bigger collapse. They won four out of their opening five matches but have only won two out of eight since then and you just wonder if that shambolic loss to the Sunrisers Hyderabad will ultimately be their undoing. That might not be the loss that puts the final nail in their coffin because it was the margin of defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore last time out which has shredded their net run rate and left them chasing a big win before a wing and a prayer.
Much like their opponents here, the Rajasthan Royals are going to need to go big with the bat to get themselves into the position they want to be in with the weekend to come. They have the personnel to do that but collectively they will need to put that shambolic batting effort behind them. They do have the bowlers to potentially keep the scoring low which will help them but on this ground you would imagine the batters will need to get the job done.
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Key Players
The Punjab Kings need a big score to have any chance of coming through to the final stages of the competition and so you would imagine they will need the very best of Liam Livingstone. The good news is this ground is nowhere near big enough to contain him.
If the Rajasthan Royals are chasing in this match then winning as quickly as possible will be the order of the day and that might bring Shimron Hetmyer into play. He was the only one who offered anything against the Royal Challengers Bangalore last time out and can hit a ball as cleanly as anyone.
Betting
Every now and again towards the end of these franchise tournaments we are gifted a match where just winning isn’t enough for either side, that win has to be as big as possible to rectify a negative net run rate difference on those above them and that is exactly what we have here. We know whoever wins the toss will bowl first because of the dew factor and then the task becomes how quickly can that team chase down whatever they are set.
It all leads to sixes being the order of the day, especially here where the ball flies a little further up in the mountains and where the pitch is good for batting and the boundaries not exactly on the large side. Throw in the dew and the hefty hitters of a cricket ball that we have on show here and the sixes are almost guaranteed to flow. There were 24 of them in the previous match here and given the need for big runs I expect a 16.5 line to be covered with a bit in hand here.
Tips
Back Over 16.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
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