FRIDAY IPL: The Edge previews Qualifier 2: Gujarat Titans v Rajasthan Royals with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
Qualifier 2: Gujarat Titans v Rajasthan Royals
MATCH OVERVIEW:
It’s crunch time at the IPL on Betdaq Betting Exchange as Gujarat Titans meet Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 at New Chandigarh on Friday! The winner goes through to the Final with RCB waiting, the loser goes home. Two sides with hugely contrasting routes to this point; Gujarat Titans were brilliant all the way into Qualifier 1 only to be completely blown away by RCB, while Rajasthan Royals left it very late to get into the Playoffs but came through with their best cricket in the Eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday evening. This should be a very competitive game, and it’s no surprise to see a very even market too.
Gujarat Titans will be licking their wounds after RCB smashed them around in Dharamsala on Tuesday. They had been so impressive in the second half of the group stage – winning six of their last seven – but they were totally outclassed by the defending champions as they posted 255/5, the highest total in IPL playoff history. Gujarat’s reply didn’t get going at all; Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jacob Duffy dismantled their batting. Now they need to pick themselves up and go again. The Rajasthan Royals win over Sunrisers Hyderabad had a very similar profile – a big score batting first and the chasing side never got close.
Rajasthan Royals arrive here off the back of one of the most extraordinary individual performances in IPL history. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi – the teenage sensation who has set this tournament alight and only just turned 15 at the start – produced an immense 97 off just 29 balls to power Rajasthan to 243/8. What an innings with the eyes of the cricketing world looking on. Jofra Archer and the Rajasthan bowlers were excellent defending it. The big question for Gujarat is a psychological one – they need their bowlers to set up against an in-form betting line-up!
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
We’ve had two very high scores in the IPL playoffs this week, and it’s hard to see anything other than another high scoring game here. New Chandigarh is the new home of Punjab Kings; and we saw 243/8 posted here on Wednesday. The other first inning scores here this season have been 162/6 (chased), 219/6 (chased), 254/7 (won) and 222/4 (chased). The boundary dimensions are 65–70 metres, the outfield is lightning fast, and the pitch is flat. This is a game where you want to be on the batters!
RECOMMENDED BET:
As I said above, it’s no surprise to have a pretty even market here. Rajasthan Royals are the ones with the momentum, and they are the favourites at 1.91. They must come into this game with massive confidence – got into the playoffs in their final group game and then Sooryavanshi in the most frightening form of his young life after Wednesday! The psychological angle is real for Gujarat. Being dismantled in the fashion they were against RCB; if Rajasthan bat first here I feel we can see another very high score in the conditions. I know Jofra Archer went for a few runs, but he also took three wickets and it was a high scoring game – he seems to be peaking at the right time too. I’m happy to take the 1.91 on Rajasthan here.
The Edge Says:
Two points win Rajasthan Royals to beat Gujarat Titans at 1.91 with Betdaq Betting Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/IPGuRy
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
The dew factor is likely to be the major factor here with some very high scores chased here this season. However, both playoffs have followed the same pattern already – scoring conditions have been so good it’s been a benefit to bat first and pile on the runs. Given the way Rajasthan have been playing, their top order in these conditions is an exciting prospect – Sooryavanshi is just out of this world too. I’m very keen to support the Rajasthan batting here in either innings though – as we saw this week, the Gujarat bowling can go around the park and we have Rajasthan with all the momentum.
