Plenty of runs on display at tiny ground

The second of Saturdays double header sees the Delhi Capitals entertain the Kolkata Knight Riders. Delhi will be looking to bounce back after a disappointing defeat to the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday, while KKR will be looking to carry the momentum forward from their convincing victory over the Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday.

Top vs Bottom… only one winner

Delhi Capitals Head Coach Ricky Ponting would have been left frustrated by his teams defeat last time out. They went in to their clash with bottom of the table Sunrisers Hyderabad with a perfect record so far in this season competition, and sitting pretty at the top of the tree. This result highlights the unpredictable nature of the IPL and the fact anyone can beat anyone on their day. This is why no team has gone in to round four of matches either unbeaten, or winless.

On the field, the Capitals showed their skill with the ball to keep the Sunrisers to just 162 and would have felt slight favourites at the break. But they limped to just 147-7 in reply, with Shikhar Dhawan top scoring with a sub standard 34. Whilst they look a solid side in most departments, a lack of overseas star in their top four, could potentially see them fall slightly short come the end of the group stage.

KKR on the charge

Defeat in their opening game hasn’t led to a drop in moral for the Kolkata Knight Riders after bouncing back with two convincing victories to leave them with four points. Runs were shared amongst the batsmen last time out, with Shubman Gill (47) and Eoin Morgan (34*) top scoring. Barring Sunil Narine’s expensive four overs for 40 runs, all of the bowlers went for an economy rate below seven. Pat Cummins (3-0-13-1) and Shivam Mavi (4-0-20-2) the pick of the bowlers, with 25 dot balls bowled between them.

Knight Riders Captain Dinesh Karthik has come under some criticism for his form with the bat, and has even been called to step down as leader due to his poor form. Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has called for Shubman Gill to take DK’s place as skipper. However, if DK does get the nod in this one, he will be pleased to be playing a ground where everyone has found it easy to found the fence. He will be hoping his average will be considerably higher than the current 10.33 come the close of play on Saturday.

Match Tip

In all of the innings played at Sharjah so far this year, there have been over 200 runs scored, including the historic run chase by Rajasthan. Both of these teams are packed with players who can clear the rope, especially on a small ground.

That’s why I am backing there to be more than 374.5 runs scored in the match at 1.83 with Bet365.

Bet More than 374.5 runs scored in the match on Bet365