IPL Betting: Chennai Superkings v Mumbai Indians

Indian Premier League - IPL / Ed Hawkins / 03 April 2012 / Leave a Comment

Main men. Ms Dhoni and Suresh Raina are incredibly consistent peformers for Chennai

"With the toss bias in mind, it is obvious that the outsiders in this game are the value. Oddly, the outsiders are Chennai at 2.00."

The first match of the 2012 edition sees defending champions Chennai host the ever-fancied Mumbai Indians, now led by Harbhajan Singh, Both teams look very strong but the key to this match is the toss, says Ed Hawkins.

Chennai

With a record of runners-up, semi-finalists, champions, champions in the four editions of IPL, Chennai are the team to beat. In a format with a reputation for unpredictability, their dominance is extraordinary.

MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina are the key men and they are in place once more for a tantalising opener against the Mumbai Indians. Dhoni has missed only three matches in IPL history and Raina is an ever-present.

Chennai will be without Ben Hilfenhaus and Michael Hussey who are on Australia duty. Ravi Jadeja, who Chennai spent their entire purse on in the auction, is an adequate replacement as an all-action all-rounder.

Mumbai

Early turmoil for Mumbai, who are yet to win an IPL. Sachin Tendulkar has stepped down as captain and will hand over to Harbhajan Singh. Harbhajan led Mumbai to Champions League glory last season when Tendulkar was unavailable.

Otherwise Mumbai are settled. They will be able to call on their entire squad throughout their campaign as none of their players have international commitments. This includes Kieron Pollard and Lasith Malinga.

Venue and pitch conditions

In the 2011 edition of the IPL there were nine matches played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Eight of them were won by the side batting first. That is a hefty bias. The average first-innings score was 167.

Match odds

Chennai are an awesome prospect on their home turf and it will take a mighty effort from Mumbai to get off to a winning start. Or they could just win the toss.

With the toss bias in mind, it is obvious that the outsiders in this game are the value. Oddly, the outsiders are Chennai at [2.00]. The market is wowed by Mumbai's ability to field a team of internationals, clearly. They are narrow jollies at [1.98].

Top Chennai batsman

Dhoni averages almost 40 in IPL, which is remarkable. He has 1,425 runs over its course and is likely to be priced around [7.00]. Raina has scored 1,813 at 36.26 and is the leading runscorer overall. He is expected to go off at [4.50].

Top Mumbai batsman

All eyes on Tendulkar, of course. The Little Master will open the batting and will be around [4.00] for honours. Watch out, though, for Richard Levi who will be his opening partner. Levi is the South African who against New Zealand in Hamilton made the fastest century in Twenty20 cricket. He will be around [4.50].

Recommended bet

Back the team batting first

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IPL Betting: Chennai Superkings v Kolkata Knight Riders

Indian Premier League - IPL / Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 06 April 2011 / Leave a Comment

Kings of the crease. Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni are two of the best batsmen in the IPL.

"Gambhir will open or bat at three and is clearly in good nick after scoring 97 in the World Cup final. Go with the skipper."

Defending champions Chennai, led by the iceman MS Dhoni take on a new-look Kolkata. There will be big hits, a few giggles and a load of adverts. It's the start of the IPL.

Chennai

Less than a week after captaining India to the World Cup MS Dhoni is back leading the Chennai Superkings. His first task will be to decide which four overseas players to pick for the opener. His task is made slightly easier by the fact Dwayne Bravo is unlikely to be fit. That means having a capable all-rounder to replace him is paramount, making Albie Morkel a shoo-in; the same goes for the irrepressible Mike Hussey. Tim Southee was the third highest wicket-taker at the World Cup with 18 so he clearly likes bowling in the sub-continent and will probably also play. Chennai's batting is as ever very strong so the fourth slot may go to a bowler, possibly Nuwan Kulasekara.

Kolkata Knight Riders

The first thing Kolkata needed to do was get rid of the selfish and self-obcessed Sourav Ganguly, as both captain and player. Now that they've done that and replaced him with Gautam Gambhir they might actually have a chance of making the play-offs. Brett Lee and Jacques Kallis are almost certain to play and the same goes for Brad Haddin though it remains to be seen whether he'll open or bat in the middle-order. Betting.betfair columnist Ryan ten Doeschate may fill the fourth slot ahead of Shakib-al Hasan and Eoin Morgan, who had a relatively poor World Cup.

Match Odds

It's hard to make a case against Chennai. They're at home and are the most successful team since the start of the IPL after finishing runners-up (2008), semi-finalists (2009) and winners (2010). They have the best captain in this format and three of the best players Indian players in this format in Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay and again, Dhoni. The best option may be to go with Chennai to win at [1.74] before the toss because if they bat first and start well they'll be [1.4] before you know it.

Kolkata Top Batsman

Haddin scores quickly enough but can be a little reckless whilst Kallis has a nasty habit of scoring slowly early on and then getting out just as he starts to accelerate in this format. Yusuf Pathan is an outrageous talent but he's what us cricket fans call a "daisy" - some days he does, some days he doesn't - and will probably bat too low anyway. Gambhir will open or bat at three and is clearly in good nick after scoring 97 in the World Cup final. Go with the skipper.

Best Bet:

Back Gautam Gambhir to be top Kolkata run scorer at [4.5]

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