IPL Betting: Chennai Superkings v Kolkata Knight Riders

Indian Premier League - IPL / Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 06 April 2011 /

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Kings of the crease. Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni are two of the best batsmen in the IPL.

"Gambhir will open or bat at three and is clearly in good nick after scoring 97 in the World Cup final. Go with the skipper."

Defending champions Chennai, led by the iceman MS Dhoni take on a new-look Kolkata. There will be big hits, a few giggles and a load of adverts. It's the start of the IPL.

Chennai

Less than a week after captaining India to the World Cup MS Dhoni is back leading the Chennai Superkings. His first task will be to decide which four overseas players to pick for the opener. His task is made slightly easier by the fact Dwayne Bravo is unlikely to be fit. That means having a capable all-rounder to replace him is paramount, making Albie Morkel a shoo-in.Tim Southee was the third highest wicket-taker at the World Cup with 18 so he clearly likes bowling in the sub-continent and will probably also play. Mike Hussey is away with Australia and Ben Hilfenhaus is out injured so the two other spots are more likely to go to Nuwan Kulasekara and Flef Du Plessis, who would provide some middle-order batting power.

Kolkata Knight Riders

The first thing Kolkata needed to do was get rid of the selfish and self-obcessed Sourav Ganguly, as both captain and player. Now that they've done that and replaced him with Gautam Gambhir they might actually have a chance of making the play-offs. Jacques Kallis will be the first name on the teamsheet and there will also be a place for Eoin Morgan. Betting.betfair columnist Ryan ten Doeschate will make his IPL debut.

Match Odds

It's hard to make a case against Chennai. They're at home and are the most successful team since the start of the IPL after finishing runners-up (2008), semi-finalists (2009) and winners (2010). They have the best captain in this format and three of the best players Indian players in this format in Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay and again, Dhoni. The best option may be to go with Chennai to win at [1.74] before the toss because if they bat first and start well they'll be [1.4] before you know it.

Kolkata Top Batsman

Kallis has a nasty habit of scoring slowly early on and then getting out just as he starts to accelerate in this format. Yusuf Pathan is an outrageous talent but he's what us cricket fans call a "daisy" - some days he does, some days he doesn't - and will probably bat too low anyway. Gambhir will open or bat at three and is clearly in good nick after scoring 97 in the World Cup final. Go with the skipper.

Best Bet:

Back Gautam Gambhir to be top Kolkata run scorer at [4.5]

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