THE EDGE: The Edge previews Tuesday’s IPL clash between Chennai Super Kings v Gujarat Titans with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
Chennai Super Kings v Gujarat Titans
MATCH OVERVIEW:
It’s a repeat of the IPL 2023 Final on Tuesday as the IPL action continues on Betdaq Betting Exchange! It took three days to complete the Final, but eventually CSK got their fairy tale win for MS Dhoni to beat Gujarat Titans. We had the blockbuster news just before the tournament started that MS Dhoni is passing on the captaincy this season to Ruturaj Gaikwad – it’s just a case of passing on the baton but it does make selection more interesting. Obviously we know that Dhoni doesn’t actually play cricket outside of the IPL now, and at times last season you had to ask what he was adding to the side in terms of batting. Could he be dropped now he isn’t captain?
It’s likely CSK would never do that, but time waits for no man as they say. CSK got off to a winning start in their opening game of the season against RCB, it was a pretty standard win without much drama. RCB got off to a poor start and it was one way traffic bar a few speed bumps. Gujarat Titans also got off a winning start, but it was in much more dramatic fashion against Mumbai Indians. They posted 168/6 and that looked short of par. They took two early wickets but it looked game over when Rohit Sharma got going but after he was out the game completely changed. Mumbai lost it between overs 13 and 17, but Gujarat bowled superbly.
An interesting game awaits. This is always a very tough place to come and win. Gujarat Titans have had the best start to any franchise in history really with a win and a runner-up spot from their two seasons. Their batting looks a little light this time around though.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
Chennai is usually a tough place to bat, however you’d also have to say that the best time to bat here is at the start of the season. The first game here was more high scoring than I thought; Virat Kohli played a slow innings for RCB and that was probably the difference. A key here will be looking out for dew as it’s definitely easier to bat when that arrives. We saw a high to low scoring pattern here last season, the first inning scores in order of games played were 217/7 (won), 175/8 (won), 134/7 (chased), 200/4 (chased), 139/8 (chased), 167/8 (won), 144/6 (chased), 172/7 (won) and 182/8 (won). We might see similar scores to the first game here.
RECOMMENDED BET:
Although Gujarat got out of trouble in their opening game, their batting didn’t impress in my opinion. CSK basically tick all the boxes, you can see why they are the Champions and they are going to be exceptionally strong again this season. They come into the game as the favourites at 1.8 and I still feel they offer value at that price. They have the perfect bowling line-up for Chennai conditions, and I feel that’s where the game will be won. I am still a little worried about their batting; their middle order could struggle at times this season and Dhoni didn’t bat in the opening game either. Still happy with low stakes as we settle into the tournament.
The Edge Says:
One point win Chennai Super Kings to beat Gujarat Titans at 1.8 with Betdaq Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/CskGuj
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
Although this is usually a ground where the bowlers win more times than not, as I said above we tend to see high scores at the start of the tournament. I don’t really fancy the Gujarat batting however, and I’d be keen to take them on with the CSK bowling in home conditions. As I also mentioned above, MS Dhoni didn’t get a bat in the opening game – he doesn’t play cricket outside the IPL so he’s bound to be rusty – I would like to take him on if we got into a pressure situation.
