Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals IPL tips: Royals have six appeal

• Chennai 1.845/6 favourites

• Battle to avoid bottom

• Delhi surface has been flat

• Royals should be sixes jollies

• Samson has good match-up

Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals
Tuesday 20 May, 15:00
TV: Live on Sky Sports

Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals IPL team news

Chennai are without Sam Curran, Jamie Overton, Rachin Ravindra and Nathan Ellis after the resumption but Noor Ahmad, Matheesha Pathirana, Dewald Brevis and Devon Conway remain. The latter could well be rewarded by retaining his spot after a duck against KKR last time out. 

Urvil Patel, a late-season call-up, brought Syed Mushtaq hitting form to the No 3 slot and he is one to watch. Ravi Ashwin batted at No 4, though, as Chennai continue to be dogged by poor tactics.

Possible CSK bat XI: Mhatre, Conway, Urvil, Ashwin, Jadeja, Brevis, Dube (Pathirana sub), Dhoni, Noor, Kamboj, Khaleel

Rajasthan gave an IPl debut to South Africa tyro Kwena Maphaka against Punjab. He bowled only three overs for more than ten an over and whether he gets picked again remains to be seen. With no play-off chance they may view it as important to give him a run. Yudhvir Singh may be an option if not. Afghhan pacer Faz Farooqi was a sub out for Shubman Dubey.

Possible Punjab bat XI: Jaiswal, Suryavanshi, Samson, Parag, Jurel, Hetmyer, Hasaranga, Dubey (Farooqi sub), Deshpande, Maphaka, Madhwal

Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals IPL pitch report

This game takes place at Delhi where Gujarat chased Capitals' 199 without losing a wicket. More than 200 has been busted six times in the last nine but how Delhi didn't make it seven will have been a source of frustration for innings runs bettors. With KL Rahul not out with a ton to his name and Tristan Stubbs his partner striking well, taking only one from the final two balls was a surprise. 

Rajasthan are far more reliable for quick runs than a powederpuff Chennai batting unit and we would only consider overs on a par line at a shade under 200 if they were batting first. Sixes are interesting here with Chennai way down at 6.7 per game and Royals at 10. But Sportsbook can't split the pair on most sixes so the gung-ho Royals rate value at 10/111.91. 

Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals match prediction

Chennai are 1.845/6 favourites to take the points in a contest which is all about avoiding a bottom-placed finish. Both sides have looked to next season with changes to their line-up at the top of the batting order but Royals have arguably been more successful in unearthing whizzkid Suryavanshi.

It would be wrong to claim this gives them the edge but we can certainly see improvements in Royals. They are consistently getting a foothold in matches. And just as discussed in the defeat by Punjab they have been good value on the back-to-lay.

Indeed, they are something of a specialists in losing games from strong positions in a chase. There have been five games which they should have got up to win given the position they were in. They deserve to be level-pegging on odds with CSK here, particularly as they won the earlier head-to-head. 

Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals player bets

We have to point out that Ashwin is priced at 30/131.00 with Sportsbook for top CSK bat despite batting at No 4 last time. It is clear value so long as your stake reflects that he may not have the ability to score the weight of runs required on a flat wicket. 

For Royals we keep faith with Sanju Samson for a well overdue top-bat win at 16/54.20. From a chunky 171-ball study sample on the match-ups against Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Khaleel Ahmed and Pathirana, Samson fares well. He averages 46 with a strike rate of 135 

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