There is one more match in the Indian Premier League on Wednesday and it is a huge game for the Rajasthan Royals as they look to move to the edge of a top two finish in the IPL 2024 table when they host the Punjab Kings at Guwahati.
Rajasthan know that they are in the finals and a win here will force the Sunrisers Hyderabad to win their last two to deny them a top two spot. Punjab Kings are done for the season and are playing the role of spoilers now.
Rajasthan Royals
The Rajasthan Royals have been setting the pace alongside the Kolkata Knight Riders for the majority of the season but they have just found the going a little tough and have lost their last three matches. They still have control of their own destiny in terms of the race for the top two, which as we know in this competition is a coveted spot because it will guarantee a couple of goes at making it through to the final, but they have to win out to ensure for certain that the place is theirs.
One issue the Royals might have is that in this three match losing burst both their batters and their bowlers have let them down at different times. In the first two matches they conceded over 200 runs and were unable to get the job done with the bat. In the latest one they crawled past 140 and that was never going to be enough. While just winning and keeping the top two in their own control is the overriding thing here, a convincing performance with bat and ball would be welcome.
Punjab Kings
The Punjab Kings have once again flattered to deceive this season. You get the feeling that they are an outfit that doesn’t have a cohesive plan of what they want to be. On one hand they have plenty of power hitters which makes you think that they want to be a dominant side with the bat but they don’t bat especially deep for that and then on the other they don’t have anything like the depth in bowling resources to cope should they come unstuck with the bat.
They have now made their way down to the bottom of the table with just four wins from their 12 matches and can no longer qualify for the latter stages. It will be interesting to see if they continue to stick with the players that haven’t really got the job done this term or whether they bring some home players in and seeing what they do and don’t have and start to plan for the next auction, which is going to be an important one if they want to be competitive.
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Key Players
Jos Buttler has left the Rajasthan Royals camp to prepare for the upcoming World Cup which could open the door for Tom Kohler-Cadmore to come into the side. This will be a huge night for the exciting English player, who could do his career no harm if he shines on the big stage.
One man who the Punjab Kings can build around moving forward is Shashank Singh. The explosive batter has delivered some eye catching innings this season and with no competitive pressure on him here it would be good to see him go well again.
Betting
This isn’t the easiest match in the world to bet on given that both sides have lost England internationals and also because this is the first match of the season in Guwahati. Reading the quotes from those involved there is an expectation of a high scoring match here and I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with that, however as we have seen for most of the second half of the competition, the bookmakers are all over that and we have heavily inflated lines for this one.
I think there is value to be had though in the most sixes market where the 8/5 on the Punjab Kings is surely too big. I say that because firstly they hit the most sixes even in defeat in the reverse meeting between the two but also they bat a lot deeper than the Rajasthan Royals so they can go big much earlier in the innings without concern of running out of batters and also Punjab have no competitive pressure on them. Rajasthan are without Jos Buttler for this match so that is a serious six hitter gone, leaving just three men in this Royals side who have double figures for sixes this term. Punjab Kings have four players in double figures and Rilee Rossouw, who has only played half of the matches, is closing in on that number. I’ll take the chance on Punjab here.
Tips
Back Punjab Kings Most Sixes for a 3/10 stake at 2.60 with Bet365
