by Punting Ace » Sun Mar 21, 2010 4:59 pm
Indian Premier League
Deccan v Delhi
After starting the IPL in terrific fashion, pre-tournament faves Delhi have suddenly hit the skids with losses in their last two games. We tipped against them the other night as we didn't like the look of them without captain and classy opener Gautam Gambhir.
Funnily enough though, Delhi's batting wasn't the major problem against Chennai. Their bowlers (apart from the generally outstanding Victorian Dirk Nannes) just never threatened and Matthew Hayden and co took them apart. This was always going to be a worry with Delhi - they are one of the weaker bowling sides. However their batting is so strong it normally is able to paper over the cracks.
While Delhi have started to struggle, the reverse has been true for Deccan who have strung together two wins on the trot. Probably the most pleasing aspect of their most recent win was that Andrew Symonds hit a terrific 50. From what we had seen from Symo in domestic cricket for Queensland in recent times, it really looked like he was starting to lose some of his fantastic touch and power. However he was back to something near his blistering best the other night. And that's a great thing for Deccan - because if Symo fires then they also have Adam Gilchrist, Herchelle Gibbs and Rohit Sharma as batting blasters.
Like Delhi, Deccan's bowling isn't fabulous. But they seem to have more variety with the likes of swingmen Chaminda Vaas and RP Singh and Symonds able to perform a multitude of roles with the ball.
The picture for this match looks fairly bleak for Delhi we've gotta say. There is no guarantee they will get Gambhir back with the Delhi coach indicating it is possible he will miss a few matches. There are options with the batting - the struggling AB de Villiers could be sacked to make way for NSW allrounder Moises Henriques. It is also possible that Delhi could call on young South African quick Wayne Parnell. But we are very concerned that too many things are going against Delhi. Their bowling looks paper thin (don't forget they are still without Ashish Nehra) and they have a host of players out of form with the bat. Not only de Villiers but T Dilshan who is a player we really like but who has been unable to do anything this tournament. Delhi still have enough class at this stage to get over the run-of-the-mill teams in this tournament but we don't think they will do it against Deccan.
VVS Laxman (arm injury) could be out for Deccan but if he is the side could actually be strengthened with the inclusion of a power player like Venugopal Rao. Laxman can be more of a hinderance than a help to Deccan.
We expected Deccan to be faves with the bookies here but are astonished to find they are actually the outsiders in most markets. Delhi do have some big guns but Deccan have just as many. Even if Gambhir makes a stunning return from injury for this game we are happy with the price on Deccan. We assess them at 1.75-1.80 and you can get 1.97 so snap that up for sure.
BET 2.5 units Deccan @ 1.97 Cricketbetlive.com (anything over 1.9 is a great bet)
Chennai v Punjab
AFTER Shane Warne's Rajasthan scored an upset win last night, the Kings Punjab XI have the unwanted problem of being the only IPL side not to register a win. Punjab have lost three matches and if they lose to Chennai tonight they might as well just pack up and go home. Mind you, Punjab's fate should not be a surprise to followers of Mr Cricket.
This is some of what we said about them in our pre-tournament preview:
"Punjab will lose more games than they will win and we can't see them being anywhere near the finals. Too many question marks hang over this team for us to seriously entertain them as a betting proposition.''
And so it has proven to be. Mind you their side has been strengthened somewhat by the arrival of young West Indian batsman Adrian Barath. In some ways Barath reminds us of a young Sachin Tendulkar with his wristy play and finesse. Punjab batted Barath at No.6 in his first hit-out the other night and surely he must be shifted up the order tonight as he is a class act. Ravi Bopara is starting to hit some form with the bat and if one or both of Kumar Sangakarra and Yuvraj Singh can finally click then they should have some batting momentum to build towards a win.
Punjab's bowling is a problem because outside of Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth they don't have many weapons. But we are sounding a bit like a broken record here! Chennai is coming into this clash off two straight wins and it was great to see Matthew Hayden and his sawn-off Mongoose bat go off like a firecracker in the last game. Suresh Raina also led the side well and played a sparkling innings with the bat to get his side home after Hayden departed.
Mind you, batting has never been a major worry with Chennai it's been their bowling that's an issue. And they again copped some hammer the other night and it was only Muttiah Muralidaran that stopped them from having to chase an absolutely mammoth total.
We are also getting heartily sick of South African allrounder Justin Kemp failing for Chennai - just when is he going to do something? Chennai will again be without regular captain MS Dhoni for this game. Hayden and Raina got them home the other night and both will probably have to do the same again tonight as Chennai's bowlers have a habit of conceding big totals.
There is no doubt that Chennai should be firm favourites in this game. But despite some good recent wins, this is a side that Mr Cricket still thinks has some question marks over it. We don't really like either side much in this game. We do give Punjab a fighting chance of an upset though - they know if they don't win tonight their season is over. And considering we still have a bit of a knock on Chennai, we are happy to be on the 'dogs in this game for a small bet.
BET 0.75 unit Punjab @ 2.25 or better (2.35 Luxbet)
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