IPL Betting: Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab

Find Me A 100 Winner / Andrew Hughes / 08 May 2009 / Leave a Comment

Andrew Hughes runs the rule over tomorrow's fist encounter between a team that were unconvincing in victory last time out against one that was valiant in defeat...

Team News

Deccan's win over Mumbai on Wednesday was not completely convincing and they may bring back key spinner Pragyan Ojha, possibly at the expense of Ryan Harris. Punjab made a valiant attempt to chase a massive total against Chennai on Thursday and didn't do a lot wrong so will probably be unchanged.

Conditions

This is the first game at the De Beers Diamond Oval and though the evidence of the domestic Twenty20 matches to be held there is not conclusive, the impression is that batsmen will enjoy this wicket and with sunny weather forecast, there may not be much help for the bowlers.

Match Odds

Deccan's perfect start ground to a halt with three straight defeats, due to the failure of their batting line-up to support Herschelle Gibbs and Adam Gilchrist. The departure of Fidel Edwards has weakened them further, but they scrapped well against Mumbai last time to stop the rot. Punjab improved after a poor start but have now lost three of their last four and their bowlers were smashed around the park by Chennai last time out. I would expect this to be a slightly scrappy affair, with both sides waiting on the return of their Aussie stars but Deccan are likely to be favourites, probably around [1.85] and should be backed at that price.

Top Batsman

The value in the Deccan top batsman market is to be found outside the opening pair. Tirumalsetti Suman has had an immediate impact, currently topping the Deccan averages and should be around [6.5] or higher. For Punjab, now might be the time to jump on the Yuvraj Singh bandwagon after his valiant half-century on Thursday. He won't be much bigger than [4.0] but when he's in form, he is consistent.

Featured Market

There are plenty of runs in this wicket and 'Over 68.5' in the Highest Individual Score market looks a good bet if you can get [2.0] or higher.