THE EDGE: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews Friday’s IPL clash between Punjab Kings v Lucknow Super Giants with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
MATCH OVERVIEW:
The Indian Premier League continues on Friday as Punjab Kings take on Lucknow Super Giants on BETDAQ Betting Exchange. It’s still early days in the tournament this season, but this is an important game for both sides. They have both won four from seven, and with no side running away with top spot this season, the winner puts themselves in the mix for the playoff spots while the loser has work to do. It’s hard to see anything bar a very close game here, and you’d expect this one to go to the final over!
We’ve had plenty of drama already at the IPL this season, and you’d expect more here to be honest. I think it would be fair to describe both sides as hit-and-miss – they both have explosive batters who can win games on their own, but they can also throw in a collapse at any moment. Lucknow have been more consistent than Punjab, and that’s reflected in their net run rate. Apart from easy wins over Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals – who are the worst two sides in the tournament in my opinion – the Lucknow games have actually all been reasonably close and intense.
You only have to look at the leading batter table to see how important Shikhar Dhawan is to Punjab Kings. Without him they look very weak on the batting front. He was actually orange cap leader when he got injured. On paper, Lucknow have a much better side – but the likes of Hooda, Stoinis and Pooran can all be disappointing as well as brilliant. An interesting game awaits.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
This IPL has been very high scoring so far – it’s set to be the highest scoring IPL tournament ever to be honest. Batters are getting better, and of course tactics are improving all the time. We have had one of the lower scoring games here with Punjab scoring 153/8 in the second game here – that score was chased down, and the other first inning scores were 191/5 (won) and 174/4 (won). This is a big playing field, and I would be aiming for 170 batting first. A reasonably tricky decision at the toss, but I’d likely bat first.
RECOMMENDED BET:
We have a very close market here; but I really like Lucknow Super Giants at 2.04. I was very surprised to see Punjab trading as the marginal favourites. As I said above, their batting looks pretty weak without Dhawan – all eyes on his injury recovery. Obviously Punjab have home advantage here and they will know conditions well, but overall I would have Lucknow trading as the favourites here – their squad looks much better in my opinion. They have played the more consistent cricket, and they can get the win here. They are a confident bet – I would have them odds on.
The Edge Says:
Three points win Lucknow Super Giants to beat Punjab Kings at 2.04 with Betdaq Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/PunLuc
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
We’ve had a range of scores here from the three games, so I would go into this game with an open mind scoring wise. This is definitely a game to give it three overs to see what conditions are like and go from there. I’d be keen to take on the Punjab openers, but I do see a little edge batting first here. This is a ground that there aren’t many major angles – unlike some other IPL grounds.
