IPL Betting: Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals

"Picking the winner therefore boils down to which side can be better trusted to score a massive total and on that count, it has to be Rajasthan at 1.910/11. Whereas they bat all the way down, Punjab's top and lower order is weak."

From looking down and out, Kings XI Punjab stormed back into the play-off race with a remarkable run chase last time. Paul Krishnamurty, however, reckons their momentum will be stalled by title-challenging Rajasthan...  

Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals
Start Time: BST (11:30)
TV: Live on ITV and itv.com

Kings XI Punjab

Despite rarely looking like play-off material, Kings XI are far from out of it. They'll need to win four of their last five matches, but that's exactly how many are at home, where their record so far is three from four. The latest victory needed a truly remarkable innings from David Miller, the third fastest century in T20 history, to turn around a game that Bangalore had comprehensively bossed until his arrival at the crease. Miller has been easily their star man but, to make further progress, he'll need better back-up.

Rajasthan Royals

Thanks primarily to a 100% home record, Rajasthan are almost in the play-offs. Using historical comparisons of the points table, one more win should be enough, two more from their last four games would be plenty. Monday's nine-wicket victory over Delhi was as facile as they come in IPL. All the top-three look in fine touch and with Brad Hodge coming in at six, this side has some huge totals in them. 
First Innings Runs
Just how many runs are enough at Mohali? The last two first innings totals of 185 and 190 were chased down, the latter with two overs to spare. Clearly the usual quote around 3.55/2 for 180 and over appeals, although as always, much depends which team bats first. I remain sceptical about Punjab's depth if Miller doesn't perform and would be more inclined towards backing unders when they bat first. If Rajasthan get first crack though, don't hesitate to back 180 and 200 plus because they certainly have enough depth.

Match odds

Everything we've seen so far at Mohali suggests this match will be high-scoring. Picking the winner therefore boils down to which side can be better trusted to score a massive total and on that count, it has to be Rajasthan at 1.910/11. Whereas they bat all the way down, Punjab's top and lower order is weak. Fast bowlers often thrive early on at Mohali, so I could see James Faulkner making swift inroads, again leaving Punjab reliant on Miller.

Top Punjab batsman

Miller has now top-scored in four of the last six Punjab's innings so could be due a failure. His partner for Monday's remarkable chase was Rajagopal Sathish so, having showed he's no slouch with the bat, could be worth following regularly around the 15.014/1 mark in a side prone to early collapse and often reliant on the middle order to save them.

Top Rajasthan batsman

It's easy to make a strong case for several Rajasthan batsmen, particularly Rahul Dravid, Ajinkya Rahane or Shane Watson, one of whom is likely to bat through most of the innings. On this occasion, I'll choose Watson for his ability to clear the boundaries, which is usually the criteria at Mohali.
Recommended bet

Back Rajasthan Royals @ 1.910/11

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IPL Betting: Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals

"Since winning the very first IPL under Shane Warne’s stewardship, the Royals have been annual underachievers in this competition but they have a strong line up that suggests they should improve on last season."

The Daredevils play their second game of IPL 6 and while they may be clear favourites, Rajasthan Royals should provide a tough challenge to a home side who are clearly missing some key players, says Matt Harris

Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals
Start Time: 11:30 BST
TV: Live on ITV4 and ITV.com

Delhi Daredevils

Having won the Champions League T20 just a few months ago, Mahela Jayawardene's side were highly fancied to lift their first IPL trophy but a disastrous prelude to the tournament robbed them of key batsmen Kevin Pietersen and Jesse Ryder, leaving the decision to sell Ross Taylor to Pune an even more bizarre one.

Worse was to follow as Virender Sehwag pulled out of the opening match with KKR due to a back spasm while Morne Morkel, leading wicket take in 2012, is involved in the knockout stages of South Africa's domestic Ram Slam.

Jayawardene has said that he expects Sehwag to return for Saturday's game but Morkel is playing in Sunday's Ram Slam final so the hosts are still looking depleted ahead of this vital clash.

Rajasthan Royals

Since winning the very first IPL under Shane Warne's stewardship, the Royals have been annual underachievers in this competition but they have a strong line up that suggests they should improve on last season when they finished seventh in the group table.

40 year old Rahul Dravid captains and coaches a squad that contains quality batters such as Shane Watson, Brad Hodge and Ajinkya Ranhane. In the bowling department, Shaun Tait's radar needs to be switched on and if the Aussie can find his range then he can lead a competent attack that includes Sreesanth, Fidel Edwards and the veteran Brad Hogg.

Age and fitness could be an issue for Rajasthan over the course of a very long tournament but they should certainly be fresh enough to upset the odds in their tournament opener.

Venue and Conditions

The Feroz Shah Kotla stadium is known for producing dry and dusty first class pitches and while the T20 track isn't going to turn square from ball one, runs are traditionally hard to come by.

2012's IPL proved that a par score is around 150 - 155 so don't expect a run feast in Saturday's contest.

Match Odds

The Daredevils are favourites at 1.654/6 but seem to rely too heavily on Jayawardene, David Warner and a potentially patched up Sehwag. With Johan Botha coming in at number six against KKR, they have a long tail and the Royals look particularly generous at 2.447/5.

Top Delhi Batsman

Skipper Jayawardene stood out from his team mates with a sublime 66 on Wednesday and could be an obvious choice at 3.7511/4 in the Fixed Odds market but if the Daredevils can prevent the Royals from taking an early wicket, David Warner should be able to play with more freedom. Warner looks the better bet here at odds of 3.7511/4. Note - these are Fixed Odds prices; better prices may be available on the Exchange nearer start-time.

Top Rajasthan Batsman

Shane Watson will attract a lot of money in this market at 3.7511/4 (on Fixed Odds) but fellow Aussie Brad Hodge has been in superb form in his freelance T20 activities over the last twelve months. After prolific displays in the Big Bash and Bangladesh Premier League, Hodge is the better option at odds of 5.04/1.

Recommended bet: Back Rajasthan Royals to win at 2.447/5.

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IPL Betting: Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals

IPL Betting / Andrew Hughes / 12 April 2012 / Leave a Comment

Owais is in blistering form for Rajasthan

"Owais Shah and Ajinkya Rahane are the men in form for Rajasthan, but the Englishman is better equipped to deal with Kolkata’s pace bowling."

Rajasthan shocked Kolkata last week but the Knight Riders have an excellent chance of exacting revenge on Friday, despite the best efforts of Owais Shah

Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals

Start time: 15:30 BST, April 13

TV Channel: ITV 4

Live Streaming: http://www.crictime.com/home.htm

Team News
Kolkata will probably want to stick with the winning formula they hit upon against Bangalore. That means Brendon McCullum will be on the bench again as Manvinder Bisla takes the wicket-keeping duties. Eoin Morgan hasn't played yet and could get a chance in the middle order at the expense of Ryan ten Doeschate.

Rajasthan may want to ring the changes after their defeat by Mumbai. They have Brad Hodge and Dinesh Chandimal available, but their batting has done well so far. Brad Hogg bowled well on his IPL debut last time but either he or Johan Botha could give way if the Royals want to add some pace to their attack in the form of Shaun Tait.

Venue and Conditions
Rain reduced the first match at Eden Gardens to 12 overs a side and there are thunderstorms predicted again ahead of Friday's contest. With all that moisture around, the surface should be lively and there will probably also be some variable bounce for the quicker bowlers to exploit.

Match Odds
Rajasthan have made a habit of confounding expectations and they won their first two games this season, thanks to some stirring performances from Owais Shah, Ajinkya Rahane and the cut-price Kevon Cooper. But both those games were at home and away from the low slow surface in Jaipur, their bowling, based entirely around medium pacers and spinners, could be vulnerable.

After a characteristically slow start, the Knight Riders began to look the part against Bangalore, due mainly to the bowling of Brett Lee, Jacques Kallis and Lakshmipathy Balaji. With Bisla batting well, they can afford to leave out McCullum and that middle order of Yusuf Pathan, Manoj Tiwary and Shakib al Hasan is packed with power.

On a surface that will enable their quick bowlers to trouble the Royals batsmen, Kolkata are fairly priced at [1.66] for revenge.

Top Kolkata Batsman
The big hitters Yusuf Pathan and Manoj Tiwary haven't got going yet, but on a tricky batting pitch I'm not sure they're reliable betting propositions. Better to stick with the classier performers and with Jacques Kallis yet to hit form, I'll be siding with Kolkata captain Gautam Gambhir at [3.5] or better

Top Rajasthan Batsman
Owais Shah and Ajinkya Rahane are the men in form for Rajasthan, but the Englishman is better equipped to deal with Kolkata's pace bowling and he will surely be retained in the top four after his brave effort against Mumbai. Shah should be backed at around [4.0]

Featured Market
There have been some low scores at Eden Gardens in previous IPL tournaments, a venue where Rajasthan were skittled out for 81 in 2011. This could be one of those occasions and it's worth siding with 'Under 68.5' in the Highest Individual Score market at [1.75] or better.

Recommended Bet
Back Owais Shah to top score for Rajasthan Royals at [4.0]

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IPL Betting: Rajasthan Royals v Bangalore

Indian Premier League - IPL / Ed Hawkins / 11 May 2011 / Leave a Comment

Chris Gayle is going through a real purple patch at the moment but if he goes early Bangalore may struggle

"There is very little faith in the Royals at a massive [2.78]. It looks
huge and we have to try to understand why. Bangalore are as short as
1.53.It is almost certainly the Gayle factor. He has been largely
responsible for a streak that has seen Bangalore win five consecutive
matches."

He may be one of the most explosive batsmen in the world and he's in pretty good nick at the moment but the Betfair market seems to be expecting a whole lot from Chris Gayle today. If he fails, Rajasthan may prove to be a cracking bet, says Ed Hawkins.

Rajasthan

Beaten last time out by Chennai, Rajasthan could shuffle their pack and hand a recall to Stuart Binny. Ross Taylor, with 168 runs in 10 games, is vulnerable. The Royals also need Shane Watson to turn up. He has only 187 runs so far.

Bangalore

This will be Tillakaratne Dilshan's last game before leaving to prepare for Sri Lanka's tour of England. Although Chris Gayle has taken the plaudits for his astonishing hitting, don't forget the work of Aravind, who has outshone Zaheer Khan.

Match odds

There is very little faith in the Royals at a massive [2.78]. It looks huge and we have to try to understand why. Bangalore are as short as [1.53].

It is almost certainly the Gayle factor. He has been largely responsible for a streak that has seen Bangalore win five consecutive matches. Yet the Royals are only one spot behind them in the table and need a win, otherwise their finals hopes look slim.

Certainly we think Royals can hang in there and they are a great trading option. The surface at Jaipur is a controversial one - Shane Warne claimed they were told which strip to use versus Chennai - and it can be a great leveller.

Top Bangalore batsman

Gayle has an incredible 328 runs in just five matches with two centuries. So it will be hardly surprising to see him go off at no better than [3.50] for top bat. It will shorten rapidly in-running, too.

Best bet: Back-to-lay Rajasthan @ [2.76]

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IPL Betting: Rajasthan v Kochi

Indian Premier League - IPL / Ed Hawkins / 23 April 2011 / Leave a Comment

Brendon McCullum has found form

"This is a battle of form sides insofar as Kochi are slap bang in the middle of a golden run and Rajasthan are the opposite"

Ed Hawkins analyses Sunday's clash between two sides at different ends of the form spectrum

Rajasthan
The Royals have lost three in a row and it would appear only rain saved them from making it four against Bangalore. They are in a dreadful rut. But analyse their haemorrhaging of runs against King's XI and it was only Shane Warne and Siddharth Trivedi who were profligate.

Kochi
Kochi are cosy at the moment after taking a while to find their feet. Brendon McCullum is scoring runs while a bowling line up of RP Singh, Vinay Kumar, Muttuah Muralitharan and Ravi Jadeja is purring.

Match odds
This is a battle of form sides insofar as Kochi are slap bang in the middle of a golden run and Rajasthan are the opposite. Still, we would expect Rajasthan to trade lower than [2.30]. Even in their hammering against King's they dipped under [1.80]. Backing-to-lay requires discipline and, of course, time to watch the whole game. But we don't think [1.73] on Kochi is value.

Innings runs
There have been only two matches in Jaipur so far but the wicket has not looked like it's a belter. The first-innings scores read 151 and 159. The average in IPL3 was 153. So the best wager looks like laying 160 runs or more for the side batting first.

Best Bet
Lay 160 first-innings runs or more @ [1.80]

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