THE EDGE: The Edge previews Monday’s IPL clash between Gujarat Titans v Kolkata Knight Riders with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
Gujarat Titans v Kolkata Knight Riders
MATCH OVERVIEW:
We’re into the final week of the IPL group stage on Betdaq Betting Exchange as Gujarat Titans host Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday! KKR seem to be peaking at the right time as we close in on the playoffs – another win at the weekend put them two points clear of Rajasthan Royals before they played Chennai Super Kings on Sunday, and they follow up that win with another quick game here. After winning and then finishing runners-up, Gujarat Titans have really struggled this season. They have been one of the worst sides, and even in the final week I still believe they don’t know what their best XI is. They brought in Josh Little, he took four wickets, and then they dropped him!
Obviously Gujarat have suffered with injuries and lost some key players over the off-season. That has had an impact on the balance of the side, and the overseas selections have been an issue too. Their bowling has pretty an issue right throughout the tournament – of course they are without their star bowler through injury – but even when the batters fired and they put up a whopping 231/3 against CSK they still conceded close to 200 runs in the chase! It was still a nice win, and it moved them off the bottom of the table too! KKR have also struggled with their bowling figures at times, but their batters have just blown sides away in this IPL. They have been exceptionally explosive in a high scoring tournament.
It looks like KKR are certain of a top two finish now which will give them a massive edge in the playoffs. They will lose their opening batsman Phil Salt for the playouts as England have recalled their players so having that advantage of two chances at the Final will be key. It will be interesting to see what type of performance we get from KKR here – they could easily switch off now the hard work is done. Interesting game to start the week!
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
This is the last game at Ahmedabad before we have two Playoffs here – Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator. It might be an advantage for KKR to play here so close to the Qualifier to get used to conditions. We have had a range of scoring here this season, the first inning scores have been; 168/6 (won), 162/8 (chased), 199/4 (chased), 89 all out (chased), 200/3 (chased) and 231/3 (won). Although Gujarat put up a massive score here last week, I’d still opt to chase. CSK got close to 200, and the opening game here looked good for Mumbai until their middle order slow down after Rohit Sharma got out.
RECOMMENDED BET:
I think the only question here is the KKR motivation levels given where they are in the table. If you don’t doubt the motivation levels, then 1.8 looks big here in my opinion. They have had their flaws in the bowling department but their batting has been world class – the best in the tournament. I would also say that their bowling has improved a lot over the last two weeks, and that has definitely had them peaking at the right time as I said above. For Gujarat Titans, they have been pretty inconsistent and as I said, I still feel like they don’t know their best XI. Their bowlers continue to struggle, and you can’t afford to do that against a team like KKR. I’m happy with a small bet on the 1.8.
The Edge Says:
Two points win Kolkata Knight Riders to beat Gujarat Titans at 1.8 on Betdaq Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/GujKol
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
We saw a very high scoring game here last time, and it will be very interesting to see conditions here. It’s been an exceptionally high scoring IPL, and while some venues have shown signs of the wickets slowing down I get the feeling the IPL will want very good batting wickets for the playoffs – and we have two here. That could mean two possible outcomes – we see this game on a used wicket and that could mean it’s a little tricky to bat, otherwise we see another 200+ game! I feel the market will move most when KKR are batting against the average Gujarat bowling, and I’m happy to support that angle in either innings whenever it happens.
