IPL Betting: Pune Warriors v Kolkata Knight Riders

"Last season’s Champions KKR won their opening game so comfortably against Delhi that it seemed certain that Gautam Gambhir’s men would cruise into the top four."

Two sides at the wrong end of the IPL table face off on Thursday and Matt Harris expects the disappointing Knight Riders to restore some pride.

Pune Warriors v Kolkata Knight Riders
Start Time: 15:30 BST
TV: Live on ITV4 and ITV.com

Pune Warriors

Pune are bottom of the IPL pile after twelve games that have yielded just two solitary wins. Incredibly, one of those victories was an emphatic one over league leaders the Super Kings and that is a frustrating indication of what this talented but underperforming squad could have achieved.

One of the issues for the Warriors throughout this competition has been an inability to find a settled team and after skipper Michael Clarke had to withdraw before the tournament had begun, replacement Angelo Mathews took over but his own performances failed to warrant a start.

Unlike other sides, Pune have now tried all their overseas players in an attempt to find a balanced team but they've failed to do so and aside from Aaron Finch, nobody has really shown any form. Currently, Pune look as if they can't wait for IPL 6 to end and it's hard to see the Warriors battling for points on Wednesday.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Last season's Champions KKR won their opening game so comfortably against Delhi that it seemed certain that Gautam Gambhir's men would cruise into the top four. Since then however, there have been just three wins from eleven to put the Knight Riders on the brink of elimination.

Kolkata's campaign wasn't helped by an early injury to Brendon McCullum who has now left the IPL to join up with New Zealand's tour of England. But the real disappointments have been two key players - Jacques Kallis and Yusuf Pathan.

KKR have kept faith in Kallis, despite a poor return with bat and ball while Pathan has been shunted around the batting order with little effect in any position. Kolkata's ultimate elimination is down to a number of additional factors and if they were playing anyone other than Pune, Gambhir's men could expect another defeat.

Venue and Conditions

In five IPL matches at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium this year, the average first innings score has been 143 but the lack of quality in the home side makes a par total hard to judge. Within those games, Pune have managed the lowest score of 99 while RCB bludgeoned their way to 187 last week.

However, 150 should be a minimum target for the team taking first knock on a cloudless day where temperatures are expected to peak at around 40 degrees centigrade.

Match Odds

Pune's dismal performances see them installed as the outside bet at 2.26/5 but it's worth remembering that Kolkata have been equally poor at times. Those odds seem quite generous in comparison to KKR's 1.695/7 but Gambhir's side should just have enough quality to edge this.

Pune Top Batsman

Aaron Finch is the only player to show any consistent form so he's an obvious favourite at 3.39/4. Even in Pune's worst defeats, Finch has stood out but he has received great support on occasion from fellow opener Robin Uthappa who is a better bet to top score at 3.7511/4.

Kolkata Top Batsman

Gambhir started the tournament in prolific form and was carrying the side at one point but twelve runs from his last three knocks suggest that the responsibility has drained him. Gambhir remains favourite here at 3.39/4 but in contrast with his skipper, Manvinder Bisla has improved as the tournament has developed and is a better option at 5.04/1.

Recommended Bet
Back Kolkata to win at 1.695/7

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IPL Betting: Delhi Daredevils v Pune Warriors India

"Delhi at 1.715/7 look too short to me in these circumstances. Home advantage is no advantage if you’ve never played there either! The flip side of that is that at 2.3411/8 Pune are too generously priced, so represent the value bet"

The bottom two sides in the Indian Premier League meet, but that doesn't mean that there is no value to be had in the market on this game. Richard O'Hagan explains...

Delhi Daredevils v Pune Warriors India
Sunday 28 April, 15:30 BST
Live on ITV4 and itv.com

Delhi Daredevils

The question on everyone's lips this year has been 'Where did it all go wrong for Delhi?'. In reality, though, that question ought to be more along the lines of 'When is it ever likely to go right for Delhi?'. At the halfway stage of IPL 2013 they are rooted at the foot of the table with just one win from their eight games. They don't have a batsman in the top ten runscorers or a bowler who averages more than one wicket per game. Only three batsmen have passed fifty in the competition so far, only tailender Morne Morkel has a strike rate of over 150.00 and Umukt Chand, touted as the best young batsman in India, has an average of 7.66. It is easy to see why Delhi languish at the foot of the table but hard to see what they can do to redress the balance over the second half of the competition. Delhi have shuffled and shuffled their line up like an amnesiac croupier this season, but to no avail. There's a good chance that they'll give a second outing to Ben Rohrer, who was one of the standouts of this year's Big Bash in Australia.

Pune Warriors India

With Pune, the question is almost the opposite, not so much a case of 'When is this team going to start winning?' as 'How on earth has this team managed to win two games?'. Make no mistake about it, Pune are a shambles. They've not only dropped their captain, they've dropped his original replacement as well. In their last game they were flayed by Bangalore, who ran up a record score for any T20 game on the back of Chris Gayle's T20 record score of 175*. They were dealt a huge blow this week when Marlon Samuels became their second overseas player to drop out of the competition due to injury (Australian captain Michael Clarke being the first) and although he has only been fit enough to play two games anyway the psychological blow to an already struggling team is impossible to overlook. This might now be the moment for them to introduce two other overseas players who haven't seen action so far. New Zealander Kane Williamson would introduce some steel at the top of the batting order, whist South African left armer Wayne Parnell offers options with both bat and ball. Either would be preferable to Mitchell Marsh, who has struggled so badly this year that it is amazing that only people in Pune cannot see it.

Venue and Conditions

This will be the first game that Delhi have played in the International Cricket Stadium in Raipur, so there is no past history to go on other than that scoring does tend to be hard at newer venues, no matter where in the world they are. Temperatures could be as high as 43 degrees during the day, but a drop of over 20 degrees is not unheard of in the evening here. That sort of drop can lead to a heavy dew, which usually favours the team bowling second if they can keep the ball dry enough.

Match Odds

Deciding between these two is a bit like the famous Samuel Johnson saying about lice and fleas. Picking between two bad teams at a new venue is tricky. Delhi at 1.715/7 look too short to me in these circumstances. Home advantage is no advantage if you've never played there either! The flip side of that is that at 2.3411/8 Pune are too generously priced, so represent the value bet.

Top Delhi Batsman

David Warner is Delhi's leading batsman in this year's IPL with 222 runs. Virender Sehwag, in turn, has a fearsome reputation but age has diminished him. Both of these two will be short odds just on name alone. The man to look for as a value bet, therefore, is captain Mahela Jayawardene. He's made 197 runs this year - good enough for 15th overall - without really standing out and he's under added pressure this time out because he is now the only overseas captain of a side not to have dropped themselves. That is just the kind of thing he thrives upon, though, and the presence of those two big hitters at the top of the order mean that you should be able to back him at around 4.67/2.

Top Pune Batsman

Picking a top Pune batsman is actually a lot easier, because only Aarom Finch has been in any sort of batting form for them. There have been odd flashes from the likes of Robin Uthappa, Steve Smith and even Luke Wright, but on consistency alone Finch is the best bet here, even at only 4.03/1.

Recommended Bet

Back Pune Warriors India at 2.3411/8 to win

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Super League Betting: Tigers and Warriors face tough tasks

Super League / Stuart Jones / 01 September 2011 / Leave a Comment

Castleford could struggle against Hull

"Beating Warrington away from home is a big ask in normal circumstances, never mind when you’ve spent the early part of the week celebrating new silverware."

This weekend's live Sky games will have a big impact on how the final play-off places unfold and Sunday's game between Warrington and Wigan could well decide who ends the season as Super League's Regular Season winners, writes Stuart Jones.

On current form Castleford are in serious danger of slipping out of the play-off places for the first time this season, and face a Hull side that will be keen to cement their own place amongst the last eight.

The Tigers have been woefully unlucky with injuries to their forwards and are still without several of their first-choice props, something that won't do them any favours when they come up against what is a monstrous Hull side.

The Castleford defence were at sixes and sevens against a poor Wakefield side in the latest round of Super League fixtures and, although they created far more chances, they still needed a late Dean Widders score to seal victory over there local rivals.
Hull recorded impressive wins over Catalans and Crusaders last month, with their 40-8 victory over a pretty much full strength French side as good a win as they have enjoyed all season.

With Mark O'Meley, Craig Fitzgibbon and Danny Houghton all expected to be fit for the trip to Castleford, the Airlie Birds ought to have way too much power for this depleted Tigers side,and look good value for giving up just a four and a half point start.
Opposing the winners of the Challenge Cup in the following week of Super League fixtures is unlikely have turned a loss in years gone by, especially if the winners were asked to take on the second best side in the league just eight days on from victory at Wembley.

Wigan may have been boosted by Sam Tomkins avoiding suspension, but beating Warrington away from home is a big ask in normal circumstances, never mind when you've spent the early part of the week celebrating new silverware.

The Warriors side were forced to work much harder than many people thought by Leeds last Saturday and Wigan's effort to hold such a sustained onslaught wil surely tell against a Wire side that have a fortnight to focus on beating the current league leaders.

Both Lee Mossop and Josh Charnley picked up injuries in the final and it's doubtful that Michael Maguire will risk that pair with the play-offs just around the corner. Ben Westwood and Adrian Morley are missing for the Wolves, but other than that, Tony Smith has a full strength and well-rested squad to choose from.

I expect Wigan's recent exploits to catch up with them at the Halliwell Jones and have to side with the Wolves giving up 2.5 pts.

Elsewhere, if the current handicap line for Bradford and Crusaders is anything to go by, I must have missed some signings the Bulls have made during a week's break. Bradford can't make the play-offs, still have no recognised hooker, and are missing Elliott Whitehead and Nick Scrutton. Their outright price of [1.16] is mystifying and the Crusaders look a good bet with 18.5 points start.

Recommended Bets
Back Hull -4.5pts at [1.91]
Back Warrington - 2.5pts at [1.91]
Back Crusaders +18.5 pts at [1.91]

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Wigan are very short favourites but that's for a reason. They're the better side in all areas of the pitch and should overcome the handicap in the end, says Stuart Jones....

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IPL Betting: Kings XI Punjab v Pune Warriors

Indian Premier League - IPL / Andrew Hughes / 06 May 2011 / Leave a Comment

Will David Miller get his chance?

"Pune look in total disarray, having lost seven in a row, with Yuvraj Singh proving ineffectual as a captain."

Its crunch time for both of these under performers. Sunday's second game is a battle of the basement as the ailing Punjab take on the wilting Warriors.

Punjab
Shaun Marsh and David Hussey have both disappointed in the Punjab middle order so surely its time for South African youngster David Miller to get a go. And how long will they persist with the ineffective Piyush Chawla?

Pune
Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has joined the Pune squad and is available. He could slot in at 3 or 4 and Pune may also try giving Callum Ferguson a game, possibly at the expense of Graeme Smith.

Match Odds
Punjab are in the marginally better position going into this game, but whichever team loses here will find it all but impossible to make the play offs. It is hard to separate two teams full of underperforming players. Pune look in total disarray, having lost seven in a row, with Yuvraj Singh proving ineffectual as a captain. With home advantage, Punjab are the better option at [2.06]

Highest Individual Score
Both the games at this ground so far have been high scoring affairs and we can capitalise by backing 'Over 68.5' in the Highest Individual Score market at [2.0] or better.

Best Bet

Andrew Hughes says: Back Punjab to beat Pune @ 2.06

Kochi are two from two and Bangalore have won their last four. A couple of the IPL's form teams go head to head in Sunday's opening match.

With both teams tied for second place in the table, this should be a tense, close, contest with no margin for error with the winner going top of the IPL, if only for a few hours....

The Mumbai Indians continue to be the all-conquering side of IPL 2011 but after a rare defeat to the Rajasthan Royals, Sachin Tendulkar for once made the headlines for a reason other than scoring runs. What happened there, asks Ralph...

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