THE EDGE: The Edge previews Sunday’s IPL clash between Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals
MATCH OVERVIEW:
It’s a massive weekend at the IPL, and we have a huge double header on Betdaq Betting Exchange this Sunday! Time is ticking down on the group stage now, and the highlight on Sunday will be the first game as Chennai Super Kings host Rajasthan Royals. It’s fair to say that these two sides come into this game needing a win – Kolkata Knight Riders caught Rajasthan Royals in this week as they went top of the table. Two back-to-back losses against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals has perhaps opened the door to Rajasthan falling out of the top two which would be a complete disaster. With England recalling their players for the Pakistan series before the World Cup, Rajasthan need that extra advantage of finishing in the top two as they go into the playoffs without Jos Buttler.
We know Rajasthan will be in the playoffs, CSK might not be after a loss against Gujarat Titans on Friday. They have been very inconsistent lately which is unlike the CSK that we saw last season. They’ve lost four of their last six games and they have put back-to-back wins together since the 14th of April. Everyone has two games left now, and CSK sit in fourth on the same amount of points as Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants – those two play on Tuesday which will be a huge game. Delhi Capitals are also in action later, they are outsiders to beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Despite both sides being a little out of touch coming into this game, this should be a high quality affair. The Rajasthan batters haven’t done much wrong despite losing their last two games – they came up short against Delhi but still scored over 200 runs. It was the same story against Sunrisers Hyderabad with only one run in the difference as Rajasthan “only” managed 200 when chasing 201! The CSK bowlers have also been conceding runs lately too – 231/3 on Friday against Gujarat Titans who were bottom of the table. Interesting game ahead!
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
Chennai has definitely been higher scoring than I expected this season. However, this has been an incredibly high scoring IPL in general. We have had some signs of wickets slowing down, but we’re still seeing some incredible batting. The first inning scores here have been; 173/6 (chased), 206/6 (won), 137/9 (chased), 210/4 (chased), 212/3 (won) and 162/7 (chased). As this is a day game, I would go into the game with an open mind – usually in the past you’d want to bat first in Chennai conditions in day games. It can be boiling hot here, and the fielding side are usually out on their feet in the closing overs.
RECOMMENDED BET:
We have a very even market here. I think this is the most even market I’ve seen for a while in the IPL. CSK are the favourites at 1.96, but you wouldn’t be surprised to see the favourites flip-flop before a ball in bowled even. As I said above, both sides come into this game needing a win – I don’t feel either side are playing poorly they just haven’t got the breaks in a very difficult tournament. They are both still batting very well – it’s been the bowling that has let the two sides down, and I feel the best option here in a very even market is to back the side who bats first.
The Edge Says:
Two points win The Side Who Bats First at 1.9 or bigger on Betdaq Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/CskRaj
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
This is another game where my recommended bet is effectively an in-running strategy. In the hot conditions in Chennai I feel it will really pay to bat first here. As I said above, bowling can be very difficult in the heat and we’ve had very good batting conditions all season here. Obviously the main worry would be seeing spin as we definitely won’t see any dew, but I still feel that batting first will offer the biggest edge here. As I said, both sides are batting well and their bowlers are struggling at the moment so I feel it will pay to support the batters here first up.
