Richard Mann takes a look at the action from the IPL on Saturday, with one confident wager making his staking plan.
IPL2023 was a disaster for Sunrisers Hyderabad, the men in orange ending their dismal campaign rooted to the foot of the league table. Nevertheless, the one shining light was HEINRICH KLAASEN.
The South African finished the season with 448 runs, nearly 200 more than any of his teammates could manage, with one century and two fifties ensuring he averaged an impressive 49.77 at the end of the competition.
Klaasen’s stock has really risen in the last two years, impressing at the Cricket World Cup and again in this year’s SA20, and he will surely be tasked with batting up the order for Sunrisers having ended last season in the top four. He really is too good a player to bat any lower.
With that in mind, I’m expecting another big campaign from the 32-year-old, who appears overpriced in the top Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman market at 9/2 when they begin against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on Saturday, 2pm UK time.
KKR power makes them dangerous finishers
This is generally a good place to bat, so that should also be in Klaasen’s favour, too, while it will play to the strengths of a power-packed KKR middle order which features Rinku Singh and Andre Russell.
Rinku was one of the success stories of IPL2023, but he has no secrets from anyone now, and I want to see how KKR shape up in the early stages of the season before looking too closely at that Man of the Match market.
That said, I argued in Part I of the Cricket…Only Bettor IPL preview podcast that backing big finishes with the bat from KKR this season could be an angle worth exploring, particularly on good pitches, and that strategy worked well last year.
I’ll be keeping an eye on the runs lines after 10 overs or so if KKR bat first.
In Saturday’s first offering from the IPL at 10:00 UK time, I’m not expecting much from either Punjab Kings or Delhi Capitals, so this one is very much a watching brief at this early stage of the tournament.
Preview published at 1345 GMT on 21/03/24
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