THE EDGE: The Edge previews Wednesday’s IPL clash between Rajasthan Royals v Punjab Kings with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
Rajasthan Royals v Punjab Kings
MATCH OVERVIEW:
The IPL action continues on Wednesday as Rajasthan Royals play host to Punjab Kings on Betdaq Betting Exchange. We’re going to have a few massive games before Sunday in the race for the playoff spots. Unfortunately for Punjab Kings, they won’t be involved as they sit bottom of the table. They aren’t detached at the bottom, but they have been one of the worst sides with only four wins from their twelve games. Rajasthan Royals have been one of the best sides in this IPL, but they appear to have lost their mojo with three straight losses. To fall out of the top two would be criminal at this stage.
With the Kolkata Knight Riders game washed out on Monday – and that was the first washed out game of the season which is pretty good – that left them certain of a spot in the top two. As we know, finishing in the top two offers a huge advantage in the playoffs with two chances of getting into the Final. Rajasthan have a two point advantage over Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad – however they need to win one of the final two games, and surely they have a better chance here than their final game against KKR. If they lose here, CSK will go past them with a win because they have a better net run rate, and so do Sunrisers Hyderabad plus they’ve actually played the same amount of games as Rajasthan so they could be the massive danger.
So, all the pressure is on Rajasthan and they need to turn the tide here. Punjab have obviously been very inconsistent – their batting has been pretty decent but their bowling has been the worst in the tournament along with Mumbai Indians. It’s no surprise to see them bottom two. It will be interesting to see how much pressure the Punjab batters can put on the Rajasthan bowlers; that’s going to decide the game.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
I’m going into this game with a completely open mind. The Rajasthan Royals will play their final two games of the season at Guwahati, moving from Jaipur where we know conditions well. This venue hosted two games here last season, but it isn’t a usual IPL venue by any means. Scoring was high last season; we had first inning scores of 197/4 and 199/4 – both sides batting first won. Ironically one of those games was Punjab v Rajasthan; Punjab will be hoping for a repeat of that win!
RECOMMENDED BET:
When the sides met earlier in the season, we had a thriller with Punjab only managing 147/8 but Rajasthan struggled to chase it down – they eventually got there off the second last ball with seven wickets down. Rajasthan’s batting has rarely failed this season, indeed you’d say they have only failed once – that was in their last game against CSK however! I feel like they have lost all momentum over the last two weeks or so, and they look very short here at 1.75. I’m definitely keeping stakes small, but Punjab are worth a bet at 2.26 from a value point of view.
The Edge Says:
One point win Punjab Kings to beat Rajasthan Royals at 2.26 on Betdaq Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/RajPun
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
With this being the first game of the season here, I would definitely wait and see what conditions are like before opening a trade. Last season it paid to bat first here, but obviously we have a very small sample size with only two games. Batting first might give either side an advantage here, but it is hard to say for sure. Punjab’s batting is definitely better than their bowling though; I would happily support their batting, and take on their bowling if Rajasthan end up batting first.
