Lucknow Super Giants v Delhi Capitals IPL Tips: Rahul and Wood to make an early impact

• LSG can start with a win over DCB

• Mark wood a top bowler bet for Super Giants

• K.L Rahul can take LSG top bat honours at 11/4

Lucknow Super Giants v Delhi Capitals Bangalore
Saturday, 15:00 BST
Live on Sky Sports Cricket

The Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium makes its IPL debut, as Lucknow and Delhi open their campaigns. Placed fourth and fifth last year, both have legitimate title credentials.

This stadium has hosted six T20 internationals before but clues aren't obvious, not least because they weren't as closely matched as IPL matches. Big scores of 195 and 199 were posted first up, but so too were low scores of 134 and 99. Avoid drawing any conclusions about runs, sixes or in-play trends until seeing the pitch report and early overs.

The betting here is perfectly tied at 2.01/1 each and that seems fair. I ranked these first and third when making our predictions in the Cricket Only Bettor IPL preview.

CRICKET...ONLY BETTOR

The ultimate betting guide to #IPL2023 for @Betfair with @sampsoncollins @paulmotty @Richard_Mann11 @TipsPunting

Every team ranked
Possible XIs
Trades & strategies
Predicted top 4
Best Betshttps://t.co/DOIsaEjGCM

-- Ed Hawkins (@cricketbetting) March 28, 2023

Balanced LSG primed for another strong bid

As explained in the podcast, I think Lucknow have a great balance. They could easily have won the title at the first attempt last year, missing out on that all-important top-two finish by a miniscule 0.04 run-rate.

Their preferred top-three - K.L. Rahul, Quinton De Kock and Deepak Hooda - racked up 1575 runs last term. If they can set platforms again, a middle-order led by Nicholas Pooran, backed by numerous powerful all-rounders led by Daniel Sams and Marcus Stoinis, very big scores are in reach.

They have two quality spinners in Krunal Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi, plus Mark Wood and Avesh Khan in the pace department. For me, the only negatives are the loss of rising star Mohsin Khan for the season is a big blow, though, and they must also do with De Kock for this opener.

Pant injury restricts Delhi options

Delhi have also been dealt a hammer blow by losing Rishabh Pant. The only other wicket-keeper in their squad is Phil Salt and picking him will mean leaving out a key overseas player. One assumes David Warner will start and stay in unless failing terribly, meaning they can only choose two from another six high-class options.

This inability to make the most of a strong squad may ultimately prove their undoing. For now, though, the choice is made easier by South African trio Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje and Rilee Roussow joining QDK on international duty. They are arguably taking a bigger hit than LSG in that respect, although there is plenty of bowling back up. Ishant Sharma is sure to be a regular and we may see Chetan Sakariya emerge this season.

Hosts stronger on the sixes count

Given the lack of ground data, this doesn't feel like an easy match to call but I slightly prefer Lucknow and in particular odds of 9/5 about them hitting more sixes and winning the match.

They led 115-106 on this count last term and their powerful middle-order look made for big-hitting. Pooran plus whoever gets the nod out of Sams, Stoinis and Romario Shepherd could be devastating at the death if given a platform.

Wood and Rahul appeal in tops markets

Among their bowlers, Mark Wood appeals at 10/3 to take the most wickets. He has by far the best strike-rate among them and the Englishman looks sure to start given Mohsin's absence.

Today's two #OddsBoost batsman are K.L. Rahul and David Warner, both of whom are enhanced to 11/4 to top-score for their side. The former is much preferred.

He's provided a steady stream of profits for loyal backers in this market for several years, including five wins from 15 last term. Those numbers beat these odds and his task here is slightly easier than usual, with De Kock away.

*Follow Paul on Twitter @paulmotty