IPL: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews Monday’s IPL game between Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals with a recommended BETDAQ bet.

Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals

MATCH OVERVIEW:

Another week of IPL action starts on Monday as Kolkata Knight Riders take on Rajasthan Royals. It was a very busy weekend on BETDAQ Betting Exchange with two double headers, Rajasthan Royals gave Mumbai Indians their first win of the tournament in their ninth game! That was a little setback for Rajasthan, but they are still well on course for the Playoffs. They are unlikely to fall out of the top four – RCB have now played ten games after losing again at the weekend and they are still two points behind Rajasthan. The bigger and more important question is can Rajasthan finish in the top two because we all know that offers a huge advantage, and losing on Saturday does leave them under a little pressure now.

KKR also come into this game off the back of a loss, they were pretty average against Delhi Capitals. Once again their batting let them down only managing 146/9, and while their bowling did a pretty good job to take six wickets and push Delhi out until the 19th over, it was always a losing battle. For such a good bowling attack, KKR have only managed to win three of their nine games so far in this tournament. They have slipped down the table to the bottom three and although they still have a slight chance of the Playoffs, they probably have to win every game at this stage.

KKR made the big decision to move on from Eoin Morgan this season, and although he hasn’t been as good as he once was with the bat, he was a great captain and you feel he got the best out of the team. Perhaps they are missing his leadership, but they need some changes after losing five in a row now. As always, we’re set for a great afternoon of cricket!

WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:

We move back to the Wankhede in Mumbai today. We had a game here yesterday as Lucknow Super Giants played Delhi Capitals, but it was a day game so I wouldn’t read too much into it. This is the ground where we have the most data, and it’s a pretty reliable ground for good scoring. Lucknow scored very well in the first innings yesterday, and in general scoring has been very good here. KKR could only manage 146/9 but that score has been much lower than other recent games and I think that was more due to their batting than conditions. Other than KKR and the day game the weekend, the recent scores have been 195/6, 187/4 and 168/6. The last time Rajasthan played here they scored 222/2 with a Jos Buttler century.

RECOMMENDED BET:

With KKR on a long-ish losing run now, I can’t see that changing here. I know their bowling attack is very good and I will be keeping my stakes reasonably small because of that, but generally batting conditions are very good here and also this Rajasthan batting line-up has been fantastic. I think those two factors together will work against the KKR, and their batting leaves a lot to be desired. The KKR batting has been their weak point the whole tournament, and as we saw in their last game here it let them down again. The team batting first should be looking at 180+ here, and I just don’t see KKR being able to do that. It’s Rajasthan all the way for me.

The Edge Says:
Two points win Rajasthan Royals to beat Kolkata Knight Riders at 1.83 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE

View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/KkrRaj

IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:

There’s two stand out things to trade in-running here and I think they line-up pretty well. I want to be against the KKR batting, but I fully accept that batting conditions are usually good here – I am hoping that Rajasthan bat first and we can support Jos Buttler and their top four to a big score, then we can take on the KKR batting in the second innings. When taking on the batting in the second innings, it’s important to watch out for dew – if you see heavy dew then just reduce stakes or back out of the trade. I feel the biggest market angle here will be taking on the KKR batting again though as they have been very poor. Although I fancy Rajasthan to win, it could pay to take on their mid-to-low order because the KKR bowling has been their strong point and that might bring you plenty of market movement.