MONDAY IPL: The Edge previews Kolkata Knight Riders v Punjab Kings with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
Kolkata Knight Riders v Punjab Kings
MATCH OVERVIEW:
A new week begins at the IPL as the show rolls on to Eden Gardens as Kolkata Knight Riders host Punjab Kings on Betdaq Betting Exchange ! It’s still very early days at the IPL, but KKR are already under immense pressure after losing their opening two games. It was back in 2012 that they last lost their opening two matches of an IPL season, and Ajinkya Rahane admitted after Thursday’s heavy defeat that his side need to go back to the drawing board. With these franchise leagues, things can get away quite quickly – the IPL is a long two months when you’re at the bottom of the table! They come up against a top side in Punjab here too, so there’s a decent chance they could be zero for three after this.
Punjab Kings arrive at Eden Gardens as the form team of this tournament – two games, two wins, sitting proudly towards the top of the table and looking every bit as dangerous as the side that came agonisingly close to the title last season. One question with Punjab though – they have only played CSK and Gujarat Titans – both those sides have lost their opening two games. Their line-up looks very strong though; they chased down 209 from CSK quite easily. Priyansh Arya is fast becoming the most exciting young batter in the IPL – another superb knock on Friday, 39 off just 11 balls. KKR’s problems have been well-documented after two games. Their bowling has been their Achilles heel; you could see this coming.
With the Punjab batters in such good form, KKR need to find something with the ball here. Narine and Chakravarthy were supposed to be the engine room of this side, they have gone around the park. Punjab are a side brimming with confidence, and they are well balanced from top to bottom; KKR have a massive task on their hands here.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
We’re back at Eden gardens, one of the great amphitheatres of world cricket, and it has become a very high-scoring venue in the IPL. Since 2023, the average first-innings score at Eden Gardens sits around 191, and 200-plus totals have been posted regularly. We have already seen this ground produce 226 just a few days ago. This ground has been very batter friendly for a while now, and it’s hard not to see a high scoring game again. While it’s an exceptionally big ground crowd wise, the playing surface is actually quite small – the square boundaries are short at 61 and 68 metres, the outfield is fast, and the ball flies in the Kolkata evening conditions. With the power hitting these days, those boundaries are on the small side. We’re likely going to have some dew too, which is never a good sign for the bowlers.
RECOMMENDED BET:
It’s no surprise to see Punjab as the favourites here at 1.78. You can make a case for KKR here – they are at home, they have the Eden Gardens crowd behind them, and their batting – on their day – can be devastating, but I still feel that the 1.78 on Punjab is good value here. The Punjab squad looks balanced in all the right ways, and I really want to be against the KKR bowling here in very good batting conditions. I’m happy with a confident bet on Punjab at 1.78.
The Edge Says:
Three points win Punjab Kings to beat Kolkata Knight Raiders at 1.78 with Betdaq Betting Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/IPKoPu
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
The dew is the absolute key factor here, it’s so hard to see the bowlers being on top in these conditions and then when dew arrives, it almost feels like they have no chance. Given both sides can score at a massive rate, this feels like a game where we’ll see a high first-innings total, and then you’d have to fancy Punjab against the KKR bowling so we could easily see 200+ chased here should Punjab bat second. This feels like a game where you want to be on both batting sides trading wise.
