IPL Betting: Kolkata Knightriders v Rajasthan Royals

Find Me A 100 Winner / Andrew Hughes / 22 April 2009 /

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Last year's champions looked sharp in the field in their previous match but their batting was inept. Does Andrew Hughes think they can recover against Kolkata?

Team News

Kolkata are unlikely to tamper much with their line-up though it is possible that Ajantha Mendis may come in for Moses Henriques as the fourth overseas player. It is never easy to second guess the Royals. However, there are no big name players to come in and they may settle for merely shuffling the batting a little, perhaps shifting Yusuf Pathan up to number three.

Conditions

Batting under the lights at Newlands so far this tournament has tended to feature a swinging ball and the clatter of wickets. Better weather is forecast and may limit the extent to which the ball deviates, but batting second here is still far from ideal.

Match Odds

It is perhaps too early to write off a team as inventively lead and united as Rajasthan. But though they looked sharp in the field against Bangalore, their batting was inept. The likes of Asnodkar, Patel and Pathan are finding that wild slogging just doesn't cut it on these wickets. Kolkata certainly have the class in their upper order, but as we saw against Deccan, if you get McCullum and Gayle early, there isn't a lot left. Kolkata should be slight favourites, but they are likely to be as short as [1.75]. Given the record of teams chasing under the lights, you could justifiably wait until the toss and back the team batting first.

Top Bat

Though Gayle grabbed the headlines, McCullum was getting his eye in against Punjab and is an easy pick at [4.0] or better. It's harder to pick a top bat for the Royals, but given the weakness of their upper order, it is worth taking a chance on Mascarenhas at bigger odds.

Featured Market

Something of a no-brainer in the Opening Partnership market. Stodgy Smith and timid Asnodkar versus Gayle and McCullum. Back the golden helmeted ones to give Kolkata the higher opening partnership at [1.75]

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