IPL Betting: Deccan Chargers v Delhi Daredevils

Find Me A 100 Winner / Ed Hawkins / 29 April 2009 / Leave a Comment

It's a battle of the big hitters as Deccan take on Delhi and with Gibbs, Gilchrist and Sehwag around Ed Hawkins has got sixes on his mind...

Team news
Deccan are looking unstoppable at the moment so it would be a surprise if they changed a side which has won four out of four. Fidel Edwards should play his last game, however before leaving to join up with the West Indies squad in England. Delhi are expected to again jettison the services of Glenn McGrath to leave him chattering away to himself on the sidelines. Dirk Nannes, his replacement, was good enough against Rajasthan to hold his spot. England's Paul Collingwood should miss out because he is expected to be named England World Twenty20 skipper on Friday. Owais Shah could stay on after his omission from the Test squad.

Venue, pitch and conditions
Only once has a team scored more than 153 in six 2020 matches at Centurion. The sun should be out, however, for this game which could help the batsmen.

Match odds
The game should be decided by which of the stellar opening partnerships fire. Will it be Deccan's Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs or Delhi's Virender Sehwag or Gautam Gambhir? Form suggests it will be the former. Sehwag and Gambhir have been strangely quiet and Delhi have twice needed AB de Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan to come to the rescue. Obviously it is the opening bowlers who should hold the key. Deccan, who are [1.80], have the edge. Edwards and RP Singh go at 5.8 and 6.8 per over while Nannes and Ashish Nehra are both more than seven.

Top batsmen
The money will flood on the opening batsmen for this contest but if the wicket does not suit their flashing blades, perhaps the more circumspect Rohit Sharma and Tillakaratne Dilshan may prosper.

Featured market
Deccan and Delhi have arguably the most fearsome hitters in the IPL. That means our eyes should be caught by the number of match sixes market. We have an incongruity to deal with, though. Historically, the wicket has been difficult to score big on but there is a short boundary on one side. The average number of sixes per match in the last five 2020 games there is 9.4. Deccan average 7.5 per game so far and Delhi 5. With Gilchrist, Gibbs, Sehwag and De Villiers all in the top ten six hitters, it would be fair to assume that with such power on show, the average could be busted. So wager on between 10-13 match sixes.