INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews Saturday’s IPL games between Delhi Capitals v Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore v Sunrisers Hyderabad 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.
Delhi Capitals v Mumbai Indians
MATCH OVERVIEW:
It’s the last double header weekend at the Indian Premier League! We should have an excellent day ahead, and all cricket bets are 0% commission on BETDAQ Betting Exchange! We start the day with Delhi Capitals taking on Mumbai Indians. Delhi started the tournament in excellent form, but they have slightly fell off and now there must be a worry that they have peaked too soon. This will be an excellent test to see where they are.
Mumbai have been next to flawless. Realistically, no IPL team is going to go the season unbeaten but Mumbai have been excellent and played some impressive cricket. You only have to look at their net run rate to see that. They were undone by a wonderful Ben Stokes innings recently, but they still scored 195/5 batting first. If Delhi don’t improve their bowling from their last two performances, we might see a similar score.
Delhi have conceded 194/6 and 219/2 in their last two innings. It’s always going to be very tough chasing scores like that, but they never fired with the bat and suffered two heavy defeats. A lot of cricket punters, including me, wrote off the 194/6 against KKR as Narine played a wonderful innings – however if Delhi concede another big score today you’d have to worry about them – especially so close to the Playoffs.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
Last weekend in the day games we saw RCB post a score of 145/6 and the weekend before that we had a score of 177/6. With this being a day game there will be a lack of dew and that gives the bowlers more control. I thought that the pitch was slowing down a little here, but we have had some big scores here this week. 172/5 was chased down on Thursday, however with this being a day game I would suggest a par score is 170-175. There’s a chance the team batting first might aim too high and fall short, so I would bowl first. Thankfully we’re set fair with the weather.
RECOMMENDED BET:
I like Mumbai here at 1.78. They have been very impressive in the tournament to date, and even with Delhi were in good form Mumbai were able to beat them earlier in the tournament. Delhi set 162/4 in Abu Dhabi and Mumbai chased it without too much fuss. The thing about Delhi is they need to turn things around – their batters and bowlers started the tournament on fire, but now they’ve had two very bad games in a row. They need someone to stand up and score 50+ quickly to change the game. For me Mumbai have everything working well, batting and bowling, and they are worth backing at 1.78.
The Edge Says:
Two points win Mumbai Indians to beat Delhi Capitals at 1.78 on BETDAQ Betting Exchange.
View the market here -> http://bit.ly/BDQDelMum
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
When these sides met earlier in the tournament, Mumbai were able to take early wickets and that put a massive dent in the Delhi effort. Delhi have some top class batsmen, however they really need their top four to fire for them to be successful. With the Mumbai bowlers in good form, I would go with Mumbai to take early wickets.
The wheels have definitely fallen off the Delhi bowling in recent games after such a promising start. That’s not a trend yet, but I would be very careful when deciding to support their bowlers here. Mumbai have some excellent power hitters down the order and they have been scoring runs in this tournament too. I would be keen to get on Mumbai if they were batting first and had a solid platform heading into the final five overs – we could see carnage then!
Royal Challengers Bangalore v Sunrisers Hyderabad
MATCH OVERVIEW:
We move to Sharjah for the second game today as Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Sunrisers Hyderabad. RCB arrive here having lost their last two games, and with Mumbai and Delhi playing a little earlier, they will be keen to win this one and lock in their Playoff place. It’s highly unlikely that they fall out of the Playoff places but a loss here might put them under pressure.
There’s actually so much that can happen on the final weekend, it’s been a brilliant tournament! A win for Sunrisers Hyderabad here would put them on 12 points with a better net run rate than RCB. If RCB lost again against Delhi and Hyderabad beat Mumbai in the final game, then Hyderabad would overtake RCB! Depending on other results, that could be for third or fourth. It’s all very much to play for!
Hyderabad put in their best performance of the tournament to date in their last fixture, winning by 88 runs against Delhi. They scored 219/2 which really came from nowhere given that they haven’t been firing with the bat. Their strike rates had slowed them down. For RCB, the question remains the same – can they win when their big three don’t fire? Finch missed the last fixture, and with only 24 runs between Kohli and de Villiers, it was an easy win for Mumbai. The pressure on Kohli and de Villiers to perform must be immense.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
Hyderabad set 219 in their last game, and that was the average score here for the first four games! Since then, we’ve seen the pitch slow down dramatically. 149/9 was the most recent score here, and that was chased down very easily. Prior to that we CSK only managed 114/9, but before that 179/4 was chased. I think teams are aiming too high on a wicket will a bit of turn, and the ideal plan is to keep wickets in hand to start and launch at the end. The boundaries are still the same size! 180 should be the target, but a lot of runs can come in the final five overs if teams have themselves well set. Thankfully we set fair with the weather again.
RECOMMENDED BET:
A fascinating game awaits. While Hyderabad haven’t really impressed me in the tournament to date, I like them today at 2.12. I have this one as 50/50. RCB have heavily reliant on their stars, and while AB de Villers has played superbly at this ground, I still feel that RCB should be this short. I fully take on board that at times Hyderabad have batted slowly, but if you take away Kohli and de Villiers so have RCB. I don’t see much between either side in the bowling department, and I can see a very close game here.
The Edge Says:
One point win Sunrisers Hyderabad to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore at 2.12 on BETDAQ Betting Exchange.
View the market here -> http://bit.ly/BDQRcbSun
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
This game will more than likely be a traders dream will plenty of flip flopping favourites in-running. For me, it’s hard to see anything other than a very close game. Hopefully it’s a good one! We have some wickets here that will result in a massive movement. I wouldn’t be keen to be against de Villiers, but perhaps Kohli is worth taking on today. I don’t think he has been batting fast enough to take the game away from Hyderabad, especially with these short boundaries.
The Hyderabad openers will need to score today, and it seems that is a good time to take wickets at Sharjah. The new ball was worked for a lot of teams here. We should see a heavy dew again, and while some teams have fallen flat here batting first, I would still favour the team batting first. They have the best conditions, they just have to go ahead and score the runs. Easier said than done!
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