The first match of the second half the tournament will have the Chennai Super Kings play the Deccan Chargers at the Buffalo Park in East London.
The first match at East London had witnessed a low-scoring encounter between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders, which Mumbai won by scoring 148 batting first.
In matter of time, the momentum has suddenly seemed to have changed in favour of the Chennai Super Kings (4/6 at Sky Bet to beat Deccan Chargers), where as the Chargers have gone through a couple of matches without a win already. Sky Bet offers 6/5 for Chargers to beat the Super Kings in this match.
Chennai did finally get rid of Parthiv Patel – looking superfluous in his role as a second wicket-keeper – and got in Murali Vijay (5/1 at Sky Bet to be top scorer) as the opener. He looked fluent till he got out, but it was Matthew Hayden (2/1 at Sky Bet) who smashed a six and four boundaries to give the Super Kings a rollicking start. With the kind of form Hayden is in – he holds the orange cap – it is difficult looking beyond him to bet on the highest scorer of the match.
Badrinath (8/1 at Sky Bet) finally came good in the previous match, but he is that sort of a player who may not get too many chances up the order. Instead, Suresh Raina’s (9/2 at Sky Bet to be top Chennai batsman) run of form deserves him a look-in.
On the other hand, the Chargers’ top order has suddenly become a cause for worry, though, it doesn’t take an Adam Gilchrist (5/2 at Sky Bet to be top Deccan batsman) too much to get his rhythm back. One cannot be sure about Herschelle Gibbs’ (5/2 at Sky Bet) tantrums on having been declared out in the previous match, but he sure is a player to watch out for.
Rohit Sharma’s (4/1 at Sky Bet) form had begun to wane away in the last few matches after a bright start, before he came up with the 32-ball 38. Unfortunately, Sharma’s biggest problem has been his inability to convert his knocks into something bigger and more substantial.
Tirumalsetti Suman (6/1 at Sky Bet to be top Deccan scorer) has only just begun playing for the Chargers, but has looked good to score many more. Given his form, one can expect to see much more of him in the tournament and could be a good, surprise pick.
Sky Bet offers 5/6 for both the sets of openers to have the higher opening wicket partnership, and in this case, it is rather difficult to decide between the two. Still, if one was to stick one’s neck out and select, then, the Gibb-Gilchrist pair should do the trick. Betfair offer 5/2 for the highest individual score to be over 68.5, and with player of the calibre of the aforementioned, it is a reasonable possibility that the mark is breached.
Tips:
Favourites: Chennai Super Kings (4/6 at Sky Bet)
Top Chennai batsman: Murali Vijay (5/1 at Sky Bet)
Top Deccan batsman: Adam Gilchrist (5/2 at Sky Bet)
