IPL: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews Tuesday’s IPL game between Gujarat Titans v Rajasthan Royals (Qualifier 1) with a recommended BETDAQ bet.

Gujarat Titans v Rajasthan Royals – Qualifier 1

MATCH OVERVIEW:

It’s Playoff time at the IPL 2022 and we have a wonderful week in store on BETDAQ Betting Exchange. We start the week with the first Qualifier as Gujarat Titans take on Rajasthan Royals. Gujarat Titans have been the best and most consistent team in the IPL this year, I know they only topped the table by two points in the end after losing their last match which meant nothing, but they have been top class. Rajasthan have been fantastic too, but it’s easy to see why Gujarat are the favourites here – they don’t have many flaws. For Rajasthan, they won a crunch game to get back into the top two this week, but they have to be worried about the form Jos Buttler is in.

That almost sounds incredible to say given the volume of runs he has scored in this IPL, but he started like a rocket and has gone off the boil. With Buttler he tends to go on hot streaks and he can be very profitable to follow when he’s in touch, however the IPL is so long it seems he has lost his touch towards the end of it. He will face some very tough Gujarat bowling here, and if Rajasthan lose Buttler early it’s always going to be a huge setback. Can the Rajasthan middle order handle that pressure? It will be fascinating.

When you look at the Gujarat team on paper, they do lack a big star man. They aren’t a usually IPL “team” in that sense. What they are though is a fantastic group of players who really do play as a team. Don’t underestimate that in T20 franchise cricket when a lot of players are here for the money. Gujarat basically tick every box – strong openers, power hitting middle order and solid batting. David Miller and Rashid Khan would probably take offence with me saying they don’t have any stars because they are such big names, but they do lack a Kohli or someone that takes all the pressure. That has proven to be a good thing though, and they can go into the Playoffs with confidence.

WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:

After using four grounds for the group stage, we now move away from Mumbai and Pune to Kolkata for the first two Playoff games before moving onto Ahmedabad for the final two. Much like the Wankhede in Mumbai, this is a usual IPL ground so we do have a lot of data here. Obviously we’ve had a huge break with the Covid19 outbreak moving cricket away from India, but the average score here in 2019 was 194 in the IPL, 178 in 2018 and 184 in 2017 which does now seem like a lifetime ago! As you can see Kolkata is a pretty high scoring ground, and it has become more high scoring over the last few years too. You might remember the T20 World Cup here when it rained sixes for the West Indies. Obviously we haven’t had much cricket here over the last while but I would expect a good batting wicket, perhaps a par score might be 180/185 but definitely keep an open mind.

RECOMMENDED BET:

It’s hard to go against Gujarat here because they have been fantastic this season. They really got the auction right in their first season and they haven’t looked back – credit to the management there. However, Rajasthan have also been excellent and their batting has been explosive at times. I know Buttler’s form is a worry now, but the Rajasthan middle order has been fantastic and they will get good batting conditions here too. I think we’ll have a very close game to be honest, and with Gujarat trading as short as 1.8 I think there’s value in Rajasthan here at 2.18. I just feel it’ll be closer than those odds suggest, so a small investment in advised from a value point of view.

The Edge Says:
One point win Rajasthan Royals to beat Gujarat Titans at 2.18 with BETDAQ Exchange.

View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/GujRaj

IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:

These have been the top two sides in the IPL this season, so there aren’t many flaws to take on. I would suggest that batting conditions will be very good, although you will have to confirm that because we haven’t seen a game here this season, and it will pay to look for trades on both batting sides. I wouldn’t be afraid of chasing 180 here when you look at the stats, and there’s always a six to be had down the ground as the straight boundary isn’t that big. Both batting line-ups have been very good this season, and if they get going in the conditions then we might see 200+ scored. If conditions are as expected, only focus on looking for trades on the batting side in my view.