INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews the two games on Saturday: Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore both with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
The Edge has been a professional cricket trader for over 12 years, and we are delighted to have his columns on BETDAQ Tips. He provides his best bets on a points scale between 1 and 5, with 5 being a rare max bet.
Because we see so much action in-running on cricket, he will also provide some in-running strategies that could develop in-play and lead to some excellent value bets. The Edge covers all forms of cricket: Test Matches, ODI’s and T20’s but his favourite competition is the Indian Premier League each season.
Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders
MATCH OVERVIEW:
We have another action packed double header weekend at the Indian Premier League! We kick off the weekend with Kings XI Punjab looking to bounce back from a big defeat as they take on Kolkata Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi. Kings XI Punjab find themselves bottom of the table with only one win from six games – it’s fair to say that the pressure is mounting!
KKR aren’t the best team in the competition by any means, but they are a solid side and they will be fighting for a Play-off spot – probably finishing fourth, although they could squeeze it third. They moved Narine from opening the batting against CSK and they got of to a much better start – Tripathi scored 81 at the top of the order. They should have scored more, but they collapsed and it’s really up to Morgan and Russell to finish off their innings.
It seems clear what the issue is for Kings XI; their bowling and mid-to-low order batting. So far the likes of Rahul have fired at the top of the order, but after he only got 11 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, they ended up 132 all out. Maxwell simply hasn’t fired with the bat yet, and their bowling just isn’t working at the moment.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
Last Saturday we had an early game here too, and we had a first innings score of 154/6 which was chased down in 19.1 overs with RCB only losing two wickets. Abu Dhabi is generally known as a place that’s tough to bat – we exactly see very low scores in ODI’s here. However that hasn’t been the case in this IPL so far. The lowest score has been Sunrisers Hyderabad with 142/4 – in which KKR played. We have had scores of 195/5, 191/4 and 193/4. All very high looking at ground history. Conditions have obviously been good for batting, but I think today will be a little tougher because it’s a day game. I’d aim for 165 if I was batting first. Thankfully we have no weather worries.
RECOMMENDED BET:
Hopefully we enjoy an excellent double header weekend with some good winners just like last week! I like KKR here at 1.78. Kings XI just aren’t suited to the conditions they will see today in my opinion. Their bowling is weak, so that will allow KKR to score more than that suit in the conditions, and there middle order doesn’t have enough quality in it to grind out an innings. Of course, their openers can do danger but I’m happy to back the KKR bowlers.
The Edge Says:
Two points win Kolkata Knight Riders to beat Kings XI Punjab at 1.78 with BETDAQ Exchange.
View the market here -> http://bit.ly/BDQKinKkr
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
Naturally in a day game you might want to be on the team batting first, but that didn’t work out here last weekend. One game is too small a sample to form an opinion on though, and as long as the side batting first don’t aim too high then they should have the best conditions. Given the time of the game, we won’t get dew and that will help the bowlers defending a score. That being said, I wouldn’t be jumping on either batting side given the lack of dew, and I’m not expecting a high score here.
I really don’t like the Kings XI mid-to-low order so I am happy to put a trade on KKR when we get to that stage. Narine hasn’t been in form with the bat, and we’re unlikely to see him open again – Kings XI bowlers have been poor, and the likes or Eoin Morgan for KKR can go very well here.
Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore
MATCH OVERVIEW:
The second Super Saturday game comes from Dubai where Chennai Super Kings take on Royal Challengers Bangalore. This should be an excellent game, with plenty of talking points going into it. RCB have performed well this season, perhaps helped by the fact that they are playing away from their home ground in India which is very high scoring – almost like Sharjah and teams can win from anywhere. While CSK have a number of issues.
Everything was going well for CSK against KKR on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi – they had bowled KKR out for 167 which was a reasonable score, but CSK would have fancied themselves to chase it. They were going well too with 101/2 after 13 overs. They then lost Shane Watson the very next ball, and we saw an incredible slowdown in scoring. They ended up losing by 10 runs but only losing another two wickets. They also scored 14 runs off the last three balls when the game was over, which is remarkable considering the slowdown leading up to that. Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen something like that from CSK, but it was an incredible slowdown even by their standards.
Both sides are hanging around mid-table, and the loser will have work to do after today. At the moment, it looks like Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals are the strongest teams in the tournament, so the pressure is on between the others to try get into third and fourth. CSK have only managed two wins from six games, which is unlike them as they usually challenge the top of the table.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
Scores have been pretty high in Dubai, with the lowest score to date coming on the opening day here with Delhi Capitals scoring 157/8. We have had three scores of over 200 since, which would have been a surprise at the start of the tournament given the size of the boundary and the usual scoring conditions here. It’s been good for batting, and the dew has certainly helped when it has arrived. Only CSK have chased a score here, remarkably not losing a wicket when backing 178/4 – but overall you want to bat first. Thankfully we’re set fair with the weather.
RECOMMENDED BET:
A very interesting game awaits. I have to say, this one is tricky. The jury is still out on RCB for me, even though they are performing better this season. They are just so reliant on Finch, Kohli and de Villiers to score runs. Their bowling isn’t great either, and I suspect that Kohli doesn’t fully trust his bowlers. That being said, CSK have been poor in the tournament to date – they have yet to bat first – which might help looking at their style and openers – and Dhoni isn’t the finisher he once was. Their bowlers have been weak too, and while it’s not a bet I would like to have a lot on, I think RCB can get the job done today. Yes, they need their stars to perform, but they have the platform to do so today.
The Edge Says:
One point win Royal Challengers Bangalore to beat Chennai Super Kings at 1.9 with BETDAQ Exchange.
View the market here -> http://bit.ly/BDQCskRoy
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
There’s a lot going on here! So far in Dubai, apart from that one mad innings where CSK beat Kings XI Punjab, you definitely want to be on the team batting first. Kings XI bowlers are pretty weak too, and prior to today they had only won once from six games – so I would say you still want to be on the team batting first. It’s been pretty hard to chase here, apart from when we had a heavy dew and Mumbai tied 201 – which involved RCB too.
I definitely want to be against the two middle-to-low orders here, although you have to consider what batting conditions are like at the time. If you see lots of rags being used, we obviously have a heavy dew and you tend to want to look for trades on the batting side then. But outside the RCB stars, they have been poor and the CSK middle order have shown they are worth taking on too.
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