The whirlwind of the IPL continues unabated with the cricket steadily improving along with the intrigue.
Fresh off a weekend of double-headers, there will be a handful of teams looking to press home their advantage.
Photo Copyright – Steve Haag Sports
Standings provided by SofaScore LiveScore
Wednesday 7 October 2020 | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi | 16:00
To Win
Kolkata Knight Riders 92/100
Tie 25/1
Chennai Super Kings 92/100
The frantic start to the IPL has seen Kolkata Knight Riders move in and out of the playoff spots a few times already while their opponents, Chennai Super Kings, have struggled to get off the foot of the table.
Both captains find themselves accused of being at the heart of their teams’ struggles as Dinesh Karthik tries to live down the presence of World-cup winning skipper Eoin Morgan in the KKR squad.
MS Dhoni meanwhile is trying to rally his ‘dad’s army’ of experienced hands into a winning machine. Faf du Plessis has been mister consistency for the franchise, but CSK are in desperate need of some explosive batting.
Shubman Gill leads the run-scoring for KKR in the IPL so far, but the Knight Riders don’t have anyone in the top ten on those stakes. While Gill has been consistent, Morgan has looked in superb touch, but there are questions about whether KKR are using the England skipper correctly.
Piyush Chawla, Deepak Chahar and Sam Curran have been CSK’s best bowlers with the English allrounder also looking in good touch in brief cameos.
KKR have struggled to take wickets in the campaign to date with Andre Russel’s four scalps leading the way for them.
Verdict: Kolkata Knight Riders 92/100
Thursday 8 October 2020 | Dubai International Stadium, Dubai | 16:00
To Win
Sunrisers Hyderabad 9/10
Tie 25/1
Kings XI Punjab 9/10
The Sunrisers have been hit hard by injuries this term losing Mitch Marsh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, on the plus side West Indies skipper Jason Holder should come through his quarantine in time to play in this match.
The Kings XI Punjab appear to be relient on their India international openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal with bat in hand, however with the ball they have two quicks who have proven very dangerous in the powerplay in Mohammed Shami and Sheldon Cottrell.
Shami and Cottrell have claimed 14 wickets between them and they have succeeded in derailing multiple batting efforts in IPL 13.
The form of Rashid Khan will give the Sunrisers hope with the legspinner recapturing his best touch during this tournament after a rough couple of years personally where he lost both his parents.
Verdict: Kings XI Punjab 9/10
Friday 9 October 2020 | Sharjah Stadium, Sharjah | 16:00
To Win
Rajasthan Royals
Tie
Delhi Capitals
Perhaps the best batting lineup in the IPL takes on one of the best bowling attacks when the Rajasthan Royals meet the Delhi Capitals.
Kagiso Rabada has once again been a major driver in the Capitals early successes, but the impact of his Proteas teammate Anrich Nortje cannot be discounted.
The batting-heavy Royals rely heavily on Jofra Archer to bring x-factor with the ball and luckily for them he has delivered.
Rajasthan have welcomed Ben Stokes into their camp which could give them some selection headaches with Jos Buttler, Steve Smith, Archer and Tom Curran already filling the overseas player slots. It seems Curran will be the one to make way for Stokes when he is available.
The Capitals may not have the explosive batting power of the Royals, they do have a pair of consistent young India talents in skipper Shreyas Iyer and Prithvi Shaw however and they are more than capable of backing up their bowlers..
Verdict: Delhi Capitals
