Welcome back to our IPL blog where our predictions go from strength to strength as we predicted five out of seven selections correct over the weekend. As our weekend selections were so successful we have decided to give you a bonus midweek article so let’s get into the action and start with Wednesday’s match.
Delhi Capital VS Rajasthan Royals
Despite losing narrowly to top of the table Mumbai, Delhi are still level on points with them and are only separated by run rate. They will be disappointed with the defeat however as it was a chance to put real daylight between the two sides and establish top position. It also halts their run of three wins in a row.
Rajasthan sit in sixth position after their victory over the Sunrisers Hyderabad last time out which drew them level on points with them and puts them two points off of a playoff spot. The win stops a run of four straight defeats and gets the Royals season back on track.
History certainly favours Delhi in this fixture as they have won the last four head to head matches between the two sides. This includes a very comfortable win between the two sides last week.
Delhi will be hoping that their opening batsman can get back on track having posted stands of just 12 and 4 in their last two matches. That said they are backed up by Shreyas Iyer who usually comes in third and currently sits seventh in the most runs of the season on 245. His impressive total has been largely down to his impressive four hitting as he currently sits in second place on that list. But don’t be fooled by that he can go big if needed having hit one of the biggest sixes this season. They also have their all rounder Marcus Stoinis who can pick up runs quickly with the bat as he currently sits third on the best strike rate list. Their bowling attack largely relies on Kagiso Rabada to take the wickets but in truth he very seldom lets them down as he is currently the leagues leading wicket taker. They do also have Anrich Nortje who has bowled the second most dot balls of any player so far and Axar Patel who has one of the best economy rates so they can help contain their opponents.
Rajasthan on the other hand will hope that their recent win is a sign of the times and that they have finally turned a corner. It was a fine win against a Sunrisers side that was in impressive form themselves. The key to the victory was largely down to all six of the Royals bowlers having economy rates of under ten which is a rarity in the short format these days. They will need their top order to get off to a better start however as they lost their first three wickets for just 26 runs last time out. Despite their top order failing on numerous occasions they have been backed up by the big hitting of Sanju Samson and Rahul Tewatia who currently sit first and third in the most sixes table. Their bowling attack is all about Jofra Archer as he is the fastest bowler of the league by some distance, has bowled the most dot balls and he has also taken one of the most wickets too.
Betting Tips
- Delhi Capitals To Win – 4/6
- Rajasthan Royals Most Sixes – 1/1
Sunrisers Hyderabad VS Chennai Super Kings
Before then Tuesdays action sees fifth placed Hyderabad against second from bottom Chennai.
The weight of expectations overwhelmed Hyderabad again last time out as for the second time from three matches they lost going into the game as a betting favourite. With that said they had been in decent form having won three of their previous four fixtures which includes beating Chennai.
Since beating Mumbai in the season opener Chennai have slumped to five defeats in six matches for the first time in their illustrious history. And speaking of history neither side has really dominated this one as Chennai have narrowly won three of the last five between the two sides.
The Sunrisers will feel that they probably should be doing better as they have got off to many decent starts this season as Bairstow and Warner have won the opening partnership battle on five of their seven games so far. However against Chennai they have only posted the highest opening partnership in one of the last seven head to head games. Their bowlers have also taken more power play wickets than any other side so it’s clear to see that they are failing in the middle order/overs.
Chennai are struggling with the bat and have only posted one score over 160 so far this season and they are giving their bowlers too much to do. To back this up Ravindran Jadeja is the only player from the Super Kings to score more than 100 runs so far this season. History shows that Chennai can usually rely on big hitting against Hyderabad as they have hit the most sixes of the match when the two sides have met on ten of the past thirteen occasions.
Betting Tips
- Sunrisers Hyderabad To Win – 1/1
- Jadeja Top Batsman Chennai – 18/1