IPL 2009 - Early Clash at the Top
Kevin Pietersen is refusing to press the panic button after his Bangalore Royal Challengers side were defeated for the second match in succession against Deccan Chargers in Wednesday’s sole IPL match up. As predicted on these pages, the explosive Deccan batting line up clicked into gear as they amassed a daunting total of 184-6 with captain Adam Gilchrist smashing 71 off just 45 balls, and he was ably supported by Rohan Sharma who hit an impressive 52. In response, Rahul Dravid (48) and Virat Kohli (50) fought hard, but Bangalore ultimately came up short as they closed their innings on 160/8.
Thursday pair of games throws up a couple of interesting match-ups as perhaps two of the most impressive sides at this early stage – Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians go head to head. The cricket betting odds certainly back this feeling up, with Chennai slight -110 favourites, with Mumbai -130.
Two high profile players in Chennai’s Andrew Flintoff and Mumbai’s Sachin Tendulkar and this is the type of contest that makes IPL betting so attractive. Australian Matthew Hayden clicked into form in Chennai’s victory over Bangalore Royal Challengers and as batsman look to be finding their feet in the tournament, Hayden could be the key performer.
Reigning champions Rajasthan Royals have yet to get going so far this tournament, with just 1 point from their opening 2 games and they are +110 outsiders as they attempt to get off the mark against the heavy -150 favourites Kolkata Knight Riders – who have won one and lost one of their games, but will surely be looking for the win to help propel themselves up the table. Bet on all games in this year’s IPL tournament with BetUS Sportsbook.
Pakistan shocks Australia
Australia fell to a surprise 6 wicket defeat against Pakistan in the 1st ODI being staged on neutral territory in Dubai. Star man for the Pakistan side was the talismanic, but unpredictable figure of Shahid Afridi, who took 6-38 to rip the heart out of the Australian batting line-up and then hit a quick fire response as Pakistan chased down Australia’s total for the loss of 6 wickets.
Australia’s batting collapsed in the face of Afridi’s leg-spin, with eight of their batsman not even reaching double figures and they were bowled out in just 38.5 overs.
There was a worry for Pakistan in their reply as they slipped to 90/4, before Afridi joined Misbah-ul-Haq to steady their response and earn a victory that was certainly against the cricket betting odds prior to the game.
Pakistan, so often the great unpredictables are often difficult to judge when it comes to betting odds, but the T20 World Cup could be just the tournament for them to flourish in, and the BetUS sportsbook currently has them listed at a mid range price of +700.
