This looks set to be an interesting match as the first of Saturday’s doubleheader. The Kings XI Punjab sits bottom of the IPL table despite having two of the top three scoring batsmen in the IPL. They make up three of the top seven after Poorans epic 50 in their last defeat. It has been with the ball where the Kings XI have struggled so far. To be six games in, have KL Rahul on 313 runs and Agarwal on 281 runs and only have 1 win in 5 shows how poorly they’ve bowled in this tournament so far.
The Knight Riders sit in 5th place in the table after five matches, with 3 wins from 5 games so far. They have been quietly going about their business making some good scores and putting in some good performances at times. One of the defeats, to the Dehli Capitals, saw them hit 210 chasing 228 so there was no shame on defeat their either. We will look over the odds and form for both teams and the have our betting tips for this match.
KXIP v KKR Latest Odds
Here are the pre-match odds from Betway India, see the latest odds and markets here.
- Kings XI Punjab 10/11
- Kolkata Knight Riders 8/11
No surprise to see these odds with the mentioned form of KXIP. We do think they have a chance here if they can get some runs on the board.
KXIP v KKR Betting Tips
Our experts have had a tough time with these as they think the game is a very close one to call.
Tip 1 – Who will win the match? Kings XI Punjab 10/11
This may seem a surprise pick but we feel overall the odds represent good value despite the recent losses of the Kings XI. Their batting performances cannot be overlooked in the betting and despite issues with the bowling they have a solid chance against the Knight Riders.
In the five games the Knight Riders have played so far they have only got over 175 runs on one occasion – 210 when chasing 229. Their bowlers have been playing well but this game looks like its the batsman of KXIP v the bowlers of KKR. In that situation, we are happy to back KL Rahul and Agarwal to win based on the form both of these players are in.
In their six matches for far, KXIP has broken 200 runs on two occasions which is impressive stuff. They have at times been hit and miss, especially in their last defeat where they were all out for 132. They look ready to get another win on the board and the top order will be key to that.
The quality they have on the side makes no sense for them to be bottom. Mention the names of KL Rahul, Agrawal, Maxell and Pooran and we are talking about world-class T20 cricketers. The bowling attack has not performed to the best of their ability yet but still has immense quality that will come good at some point. Sheldon Cotterell and Mohammed Shami are both excellent bowlers at T20 level but we have not seen enough saluting from Cotterall this IPL. Hopefully, Saturday’s game will be the start of a turn around in form.
For the Knight Riders, Andre Russell has been bowling well but other than him none of their bowlers appears in the top 5 for economy rate and only one is in the top 15 for wickets taken. On the surface of the KKR performances, the bowling looks good but could it just be they came up against off form batsmen? With this in mind, we are happy to back KXIP batsmen to get the better of the KKR bowlers and make a win at odds against of 10/11.
Who do you think will win the match? Send us a tweet to @cricketicsIndia to tell us!
Tip 2 – Betway #Betyourway – KL Rahul and Agrawal to both score 25+ runs 9/5
Love this bet! These are two guys in great form who, excluding the last match, have been getting some big scores. Against the bowling of the Knight Riders, we are expecting them to get some decent runs on the board in this match.
IPL batting averages so far –
- KL Rahul 62.6
- M Agarwal 46.83
Bith have excellent averages and well over the 26 runs needed for this bet to win
Tip 3 – Betway #Betyourway – KXIP to win and KL Rahul to hit at least 1 six 2/1
Another one from the Betway individual match bets. This one is screaming at us, if KXIP gets the win then we can really expect to see KL Rahul get a 6! He has hit 10 sixes in 6 matches so far.