Our expert tipster has cast their eye over the upcoming match between the Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Capitals in their first game of the IPL season. He’s taken a look at both teams, and feels a win for the visitors is the more likely outcome.
Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Capitals
10th April
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Live on Sky Sports Cricket
Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Capitals Preview
If you’re an historian, you’ll be backing the Chennai Super Kings this weekend based on their previous record, but both sides will be right to enter this game with a healthy dose of confidence. The Super Kings have strong batsmen, but they disappointed last year and didn’t reach the playoffs, which is something they’ll be looking to rectify. But the Delhi Capitals are one of the toughest first draws they could have asked for. They finished second last season, and will be looking to catch the Mumbai Indians this time out. To do that, a good start will be a necessity, so all-rounders like Marcus Stoinis and Axar Patel will need to be on top form, which we expect they will be.
Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Capitals Odds
The Chennai Super Kings are slight underdogs in their opening home game, coming in at a price of 21/20. The Delhi Capitals, who narrowly lost out on the title last year, are favourites at 20/29.
Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Capitals Tips
The odds tell pretty much their own story here, but unlike the opening game between the Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers, this is expected to be a game which any team can win. Shikhar Dhawan, Steven Smith, Ajinkya Rahane and Shimron Hetmyer will be big players to watch, and the visitors also boast some of the best all-rounders in the world in Marcus Stoinis and Axar Patel. The record books seem to favour a win for the hosts, who have won 15 of the sides’ previous 23 matches, but we all know that stats like that won’t be playing too much on the minds of the Capitals. Our win probability calculator has it 44%-56%, which means it is really anyone’s game. We like Faf du Plessis as man-of-the-match at 9/1 and Kagiso Rabada to be the away side’s top bowler at 9/5.
Kagiso Rabada to be away team’s top bowler – 9/5
We think that if the away side are to do what’s expected, the 25-year-old will need to be on his game. We expect that to be the case, and we’re backing him to be the top bowler.
Faf du Plessis to be man-of the-match – 9/1
The 36-year-old South African is a bit of a longshot to be the best player in the match, but we fancy him. He’s one of the best in the world, and many consider him to be the home side’s premier player.
Squads
Chennai Super Kings Squad
Batsmen: Faf du Plessis, Cheteshwar Pujara, Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Hari Nishanth, Ruturaj Gaikwad
Wicket Keepers: MS Dhoni, N Jagadeesan
All Rounders: Moeen Ali, Dwayne Bravo, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Krishnappa Gowtham, Bhagath Varma
Bowlers: Lungi Ngidi, Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir, KM Asif, Shardul Thakur, Karn Sharma, Harishankar Reddy, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore
Delhi Capitals Squad
Batsmen: Shikhar Dhawan, Steven Smith, Shimron Hetmyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Prithvi Shaw
Wicket Keepers: Rishabh Pant, Sam Billings, Vishnu Vinod
All Rounders: Marcus Stoinis, Tom Curran, Chris Woakes, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Lalit Yadav
Bowlers: Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Ripal Patel, Praveen Dubey, Manimaran Siddharth, Lukman Meriwala
For more betting odds on the 2021 Indian Premier League, head over to the NetBet Cricket page.
*Odds are subject to change.
