This looks set to be an interesting clash with CSK stuttering and failing to meet the high pre-tournament expectations on them. After a great start against the Indians, they’ve struggled and not looked anywhere near their best. Billed by the bookmakers as the second favourites they’ve certainly not lived up to that.
We have been really disappointed with the performances of CSK and although we did not tip the to win the tournament we still excepted a better offering from them. At their current rate, they may not qualify from the group stage. This would be a big let down for the CSK fans. We are not really expecting a mass turn round of form here either.
Against them will be a Knight Riders side who have performed well, arguably over expectations. With two wins from their first four matches, they sit 4th in the table, written before the Indian play the Royals.
The Knight Riders start slowly with a 49 run defeat to the Mumbai Indians but there is no shame in that. Since then have gone on to win against Sun risers and the Royals, they lost to the Capitals but put in an excellent performance
Latest match odds*
Here are the latest odds from 22bet India
- Chennai Super Kings 9/10
- Kolkata Knight Riders 9/10
Both teams at the same odds here. We were a little surprised to see these odds as we expected the Knight Riders to be a little shorter.
KKR v CSK Betting Tips
Today we have three betting tips on the match, as always we will be trying to predict the match-winner as well as finding some other value betting markets.
Tip 1 – Who will win the match? Kolkata Knight Riders 9/10
We will start by looking at the form of KKR and why we think they will win this match!
As mentioned above they started with a loss to the Mumbai Indians, but since they we feel they have been playing well. There is a good depth to the squad and quality throughout which is shining through.
In their last match, they lost to the Delhi Capitals but we still think they showed some quality in defeat. The Capitals batted first and set a total to chase of 228 – a massive score. They played well with the bat with all the top order making runs. For the Knight Riders, Pat Cummings continues to be up and down getting 0/49 off his four overs – not what we expect from a player bought for 11 Crore in the auction!
With the bat, they put in a great chase on what was clearly a batters wicket. They fell short making 200 from their 20 but that was an excellent effort. It was the falling of wickets that slowed them from getting closer with Narine performing poorly again. Here is the full KKR batting scorecard –
With the underperformance of Narine, we are expecting to see Tom Banton come in at no 3 in today’s match. He’s one of the rising stars of T20 cricket and set the Big Bash on fire this year. He’s not been in the squad yet but cannot be far away from making his 2020 IPL debut. This will be another lift for an already impressive batting line up.
Before this match, KKR had back to back wins. Firstly they beat the Sunrisers Hyderabad comfortably then followed that up with a very good win against and in form Rajasthan Royals. We were impressed with both of these performances from KKR and we see them as one of the dark horses of the tournament and one to watch over their coming games.
CSK have started poorly with just two wins from five matches. They seem to be stuttering with the ball and failing to deliver on their clear potential in this years IPL. It is worth noting that in their last game they chased down 178 without losing a wicket against KXIP. KXIP have hardly been in form for keeping the runs down!
Tip 2 – KKR most match sixes 17/20
In the tournament so far KKR has hit 8 more sixes than CSK and they have played a game less. The odds of 17/20 make this bet jump out to us looking at those stats. With the potential return of Tom Banton, a prominent 6 hitter, this could be a stroll for KKR to win if they get in their stride.
Tip 3 – Player of the match – Banton 12/1 & Cummings 14/1
This is the betting market for who will be awarded the man of the match. We have selected two players and we will back them for equal amounts once we have seen the teams to confirm they are both playing.
If Banton starts then he should be ready to go as he has been playing all summer with England. With his explosive power coupled with his IPL 2020 debut, he could be a good one for a man of the match.
Cummings also caught our eye at 14/1. He has been very up and down so far this tournament but when he’s played well, he has played very well! If he is in his stride he has the potential for some excellent bowling figures and can get a few runs if needed too.