IPL Betting / Frank Gregan / 25 March 2010 /

Frank Gregan looks ahead to what should be a thrilling Friday afternoon IPL contest...

Venue and Conditions

The Sardar Patel Stadium is the place to be on Friday as the Rajasthan Royals host the Deccan Chargers. This is only the third IPL fixture to be played at this stadium and the wicket has proved to be a difficult one on which to get the ball away. It's a slow track, arguably the slowest in the IPL and the Deccan batsmen may find the adjustment difficult.

Team News

Rajasthan looked likely to become the IPL whipping boys. They were defeated in their opening two fixtures and were dealt a double injury blow when the South African skipper Graeme Smith and Hampshire's Dimitri Mascarenhas were ruled out for the duration after their second contest. Morale was low in the camp when they lined up for their third match against Bangalore and were subsequently skittled out for 92, losing the game by ten wickets. Changes were made to the side, out went the international players Damien Martyn (who has since been cut from the squad) and Morne Morkel replaced by Adam Voges and Shaun Tait whilst home grown Sumit Narwal gave way to Faiz Fazal. The Royals have recorded back to back wins with the current line up and injuries permitting look unlikely to make any changes.

The Deccan Chargers have made a solid start winning three out of four after having lost the tournament opener against Kolkata. The evergreen Adam Gilchrist is doing a sterling job and he is being ably assisted by the experienced duo of Andrew Symonds and Herschelle Gibbs both of whom seem to be playing their way back into form. Symonds produced a man of the match performance in the recent game against Delhi scoring a quick fire 35 and recording bowling figures of 3 for 21 with an exceptional economy rate of just 5.25. VVS Laxman missed the Delhi game with a hand injury sustained as a result of a wayward throw during the game against Punjab but his replacement Monish Mishra didn't inspire and may be a candidate for the axe.

Match Odds

Deccan are firm favourites at [1.62] with Rajasthan available at [2.62]. The Chargers price is not tempting given the pitch conditions and consequently the Royals look the value bet.

Top Runscorer

Yorkshire's Michael Lumb is likely to head the market for Rajasthan after responding well to his first ball dismissal against Kolkata with a solid 41 against Punjab. Yusaf Pathan is a monster hitter but since smashing an explosive century in the opening game he has struggled to find the middle of the bat. The wicket keeper Naman Ojha comes in high up the order but is another who has been out of sorts and is proving expensive to follow. Faiz Fazal has looked the part in his two innings and a match in the region of [6.4] may prove to be astute.

The three international heavyweights will dominate the market for Deccan, Adam Gilchrist is always a short price because of his opening bat slot and the [3.5] that will probably be available is skinny when you consider the batting line up behind him. Herschelle Gibbs seems to be coming back into form and a match in the region of [6] should be attainable with Andrew Symonds at [5.5]

Featured Market

Check out the head to head between the two powerhouses - Andrew Symonds against Yusaf Pathan.

Trivia

The average first innings score in the two innings played in this stadium is 155 - 10 runs less than the IPL3 average which up to and including game 19 stood at 165.7.

Best Bet: Frank Gregan says: Back Andrew Symonds against Yusaf Pathan in the head to head market at [1.95] or greater.

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