THE EDGE: The Edge previews the IPL clash between Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders
MATCH OVERVIEW:
The IPL rolls back to Chennai on BETDAQ Betting Exchange as the Chennai Super Kings host the Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday. Both sides need a win – we won’t say desperately need a win yet, but we are heading towards that situation with CSK! It’s early days in a two month long tournament, but KKR sit in mid-table as defending Champions and CSK are more likely to be heading for the wooden spoon rather than the playoffs. Much has been made about MS Dhoni coming into the tournament “rusty” – understandable given it’s the only real cricket he plays; CSK lost again this week but his 27 off 12 balls might keep the haters off his back for a while.
The CSK bowling has been a problem, especially away from home. They have gone heavy on spin, and when there isn’t much turn in the wicket or we get any kind of dew, you get the feeling that they are always short of options. It will be very interesting to see how they perform here now they are back at home, against a team that is slightly struggling too. As I said, KKR are in mid-table with two wins from five games. They lost a very high scoring game this week against Lucknow Super Giants; their bowlers went around the park conceding 238/3, but they very nearly chased it – they came up 4 runs short.
The KKR batters are in decent form, they’ve scored 200 or more back-to-back times now. Obviously they had the collapse against Mumbai Indians, but most IPL sides will have a blowout game in fairness. CSK must improve their bowling, and unless they get the spinning conditions to help I don’t see their issues being solved.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
This will be the fourth game in Chennai. The first inning scores have been 155/9 (chased), 196/7 (won) and 183/6 (won). You generally want to bat first here – we can of course get very good scoring conditions when we have dew but in general we tend to see slower conditions in Chennai. As I said above, CSK are loaded with spinners so they will be in the groundman’s ear to try and get some spin into the wicket. I would go into this game with an open mind on scoring, but I would bat first if I won the toss.
RECOMMENDED BET:
It’s not a surprise that we have a pretty even market. It’s quite easy to pick holes in both sides to be honest. KKR are the marginal favourites at 1.93, and I still feel that offers some decent value. I’m going to keep stakes small here because I am obviously worried about CSK requesting a wicket with a lot of turn, but I do feel the bowling is a little light and it’s been struggling. Additionally, I know the KKR bowling has been lacklustre but their batting has been in good touch and they can take full advantage of the CSK bowling.
The Edge Says:
One point win Kolkata Knight Riders to beat Chennai Super Kings at 1.93 with BETDAQ Betting Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/ChnKol
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
The most important thing to do here is to confirm conditions; from there the in-running strategy will play out. I have highlighted the reasons above why the home side might want a spinning wicket – you always have to have something like that in the back of your mind – especially at a ground that has a history of being slow and low anyway. I do feel though that unless we get a slow and low wicket, the CSK bowling will again struggle here. If the wicket is decent, then I’ll want to take on the CSK bowling with the in-form KKR batting. I feel that’s where we’ll see most market movement.
