THURSDAY IPL: The Edge previews Kolkata Knight Riders v Sunrisers Hyderabad with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
Kolkata Knight Riders v Sunrisers Hyderabad
MATCH OVERVIEW:
The IPL rolls on at Eden Gardens as Kolkata Knight Riders host Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday on Betdaq Betting Exchange . Everyone has played once now, and both sides will be desperate to get their first win on the board. The opening two games of the tournament both saw 200-plus first innings scores chased down – the batters are firmly in control early on, but obviously a worry for these two sides has to be their bowling. Sunrisers Hyderabad set RCB 202 to win but it got chased in just 15.4 overs.
KKR had a tough opening night in Mumbai, posting a solid 220/4 only to see Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton dismantle their bowling attack with a 148-run opening stand. KKR also dropped catches of both Rohit and Rickelton at crucial moments, which proved very costly. Obviously the bowling was a worry for KKR coming into the tournament, and that’s been proven right. Eden Gardens is another very high scoring venue, so both sets of bowlers will be tested again here! Sunrisers Hyderabad lost quicker than KKR with 201 chased down quickly; it was chased down with 26 balls to spare. Pat Cummins remains absent with a back injury, and their bowling looked toothless without him against Kohli and Padikkal.
Both sides have serious firepower in the batting department, but can they find enough bowling to defend a total. This feels like a game where we’ll have the batters dominate the bowlers in both innings – it might come down to one bowler having a superb game to make the difference.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
Eden Gardens is one of the great amphitheatres of world cricket, but it’s turned into a very high scoring venue in IPL cricket. Since the 2023 IPL, the average first innings score at Eden Gardens sits around 191/7, 200-plus totals have been posted quite a lot, and given the two sides scored over 200 and then saw it chased down in the opening game, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see 200+ in both innings here again. Obviously dew will be an issue here too, which makes life even more difficult for the bowlers – it’s hard not to expect a high scoring game here. We can get some tricky wickets here, but it’s not often!
RECOMMENDED BET:
This is a genuinely fascinating match-up given where both sides are; I feel it’s quite easy to pick holes in both sides. We have the closest market of the tournament here; both sides are trading 1.99 – you cannot get more competitive than that betting wise! It really is a coin-flip. Sunrisers are the more complete side on paper when healthy, but they too looked vulnerable with the ball in Game 1, especially without Cummins. Obviously KKR have issues with their bowling attack too – massive issues really. Given the dew factor and the trend of chasing sides winning in this tournament early doors, I’m going to take the same approach we took this week – back the side that bowls first. With both bowling attacks looking shaky, the team that gets to chase on a dew-affected outfield gets a significant edge,
The Edge Says:
One point win The Team That Bowls First (Kolkata Knight Riders at 1.99 or Sunrisers Hyderabad 1.99) with Betdaq Betting Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/IPKoSu
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
Given I feel the side chasing we have a big edge here, it’s hard not to go into the game and make that your in-running strategy. The dew is the absolute key factor chasing, and I do expect a high scoring game. As I said above, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see 200+ chased down. Both sides have gone well with the bat already, and the bowling has been smashed around too. It’s hard not to see the batters being on top in both innings.
