There’s a potential humdinger of a clash set to take place on Wednesday, May 11, between two sides who are outstanding on their respective days.
Rajasthan Royals, who have won seven of their 11 matches to date, are led by Sanju Samson and go into this knowing a win would edge them closer to the play-offs and keep them in with a realistic chance of making the top two.
They take on Delhi Capitals, who are led by Rishabh Pant and have been inconsistent during this Indian Premier League season, but who can never be taken lightly with the likes of David Warner, Mitch Marsh, Pant himself and Kuldeep Yadav in their squad.
Delhi have won just five out of 11 matches and were embarrassed last time out by Chennai Super Kings, a result that put a major dent in their play-off ambitions. The Capitals now need to win all their last three matches and also hope that other teams do them a favour, if they are to get to the latter stages of the IPL.
That ought to sharpen their focus . The head-to-head between these franchises is every bit as close as you’d expect, with the Royals holding a 13-12 win record over Wednesday’s opponents from 25 previous clashes.
That might suggest another close game but I’m not so sure. I’ve been an advocate of Delhi throughout this tournament. They have some fanstastic players who can win gamea single-handedly, and on his own David Warner’s performances have brought his supporters a healthy profit.
However, this time around I think they look up against it. Rajasthan are trading at 8/11 to win this match, shorter than the usual 10/11 for both teams and those bookmakers are not stupid. They see a team who want to win this to boost their play-off chances and I tend to agree with them.
With the firepower of the outstanding Joss Buttler to call upon, I think the Royals can win this game whether they are setting or chasing down a score and I would take that price now, because it looks sure to shorten once the match is underway.
As mentioned, I’ve been sweet on David Warner with the bat throughout, and I am not going to sidestep him now. He is trading at 12/5 with bet365 and that’s good enough for me to recommend him as the Capitals’ top batter, even though I think he will end up on the losing side.
So Warner can do well in defeat but the man who can win this match, as he’s done with several already this season, is Joss Buttler. 21/10 with bet365 is not your normal working man’s price for such a bet but he is head and shoulders above the rest and I’m taking him to be the Royals’ leading runscorer. Into the bargain you can back him to be Player of the Match at 5/1 and that also looks worth a play.
Best of luck!
