Olimp3kSignUp jan19Couch Critic previews the betting for the Indian Premier League matches taking place on Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th April including Mumbai Indians v Kings XI and Rajasthan Royals v Chennai Super Kings

 

 

 

 

Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI (Wednesday, 10 April – 16:30)

Setting the Scene: The Indians and Kings clash for dominance at the Wankhede. Mumbai find themselves at a touch of a crossroads as we move toward halfway in the comp – a few victories and they are clear at the top, but a couple of losing will see them having to scrap for fourth place. The Kings on the other hand have surprised many and will be looking to keep the good times rolling away from home on this occasion.

Let’s Talk Tactics: The top order of Mumbai haven’t been able to get the runs on the board but their bowling unit has settled into their strong suit – Behrendorff, Burmah and Alzarri Joseph make a potent seam attack and are backed up by some capable tweakers.

The Kings have Rahul back in form right at the top and it’s just a question of time until Gayle or Miller play one of those match-winning knocks of theirs. Like their opponents of the day Punjab rely on their bowlers to a large extent however in their case they have less bowling stars but seem to scrap well as a bowling unit.

Verdict: Neither side has been able to set the IPL alight with their batting prowess (Mumbai passing 180 on one occasion and Kings XI twice). As mentioned the top order of the home side has looked shaky and as such Suryakumar Yadav should have all the opportunity in the world to be top bat regardless of whether Mumbai bat or bowl first. With Hardik likely to pitch in with good fielding, a wicket or two and perhaps the odd lusty blow he is a lively Man of the Match pick.

Bets:

Total runs in the game – Under 340.5 @ 1.85

Top Kings XI Batsman – K Rahul @ 4.00

Top Mumbai Batsman – SA Yadav @ 5.50

Man of the Match – H Pandya @ 12.50

 

RAJASTHAN ROYALS vs CSK (Thursday, 11 April – 16:30)

Setting the Scene: It’s the top of the log versus the team near the bottom. The Royals need to pick up a victory to start moving in the right direction and fortunately for them they host the high-flying Kings in the comforts of Jaipur, where they beat RCB last time out. The men from Chennai have wasted no time in finding the same form they had in 2018, having tasted defeat on only one occasion thus far.

Let’s Talk Tactics: CSK under the stewardship of Dhoni have been near flawless. An aging batting line-up has hardly shot the lights out with dazzling stroke-play but nor have they needed to. The Flemming-Dhoni combination have found a bowling unit that have proven extremely effective.

Rajasthan rely heavily on Buttler with the bat to provide some much-needed impetus but also have two tidy spinners in Gowtham and Gopal who have proven tough to get away.

Jaipur has proven to not be a free scoring track and one which offers something to the slow men.

Verdict: The CSK recipe works beautiful on their dust bowl in Chennai but Tahir and the Turbanator might enjoy Jaipur nearly as much as their own patch. The slow men could hold the key to success for both sides. Faf has been brilliant since being introduced at the top of the order for CSK whilst Steve Smith is slowly but surely finding his best touch.

Bets:

Top CSK batsman –F du Plessis @ 5.00

Top Royals batsman – S Smith @ 5.00

Man of the Match – I Tahir @ 20.00

 

(Note, all odds quoted are subject to change)

 

 

Enjoy the cricket and happy punting!