The IPL 2021 season, the 14th edition of the cash-rich cricket league has its 8th matchday on 16th April when Punjab Kings will face Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Punjab Kings
The newly formed Punjab Kings franchise kicked off their 2021 IPL campaign with a narrow yet stunning defending win over Rajasthan Royals. The heavy hitter rich batting squad saw their skipper KL Rahul smashing an 91-off-50, with soaring shots from Chris Gayle and Deepak Hooda which paddled their total past 200.
Despite the bowling squad failing to deliver economic figures and had almost resulted in a loss, it was the young Arshdeep Singh who picked three RR wickets, including the vital scalp of Sanju Samson in the last ball of the game.
Full Squad: KL Rahul (c/wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Prabsimran Singh, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Harpreet Brar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel, Darshan Nalkande, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Jhye Richardson, Shahrukh Khan, Riley Meredith, Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena, Utkarsh Singh, Fabian Allen, Saurabh Kumar.
Chennai Super Kings
All eyes were on MS Dhoni’s return to the pitch to lead Chennai Super Kings to redemption after a poor 2020 campaign but unfortunately, the three-time champions bit the dust against last year’s finalists Delhi Capitals due to below-average bowling performance.
Despite putting up a score of 188, CSK failed to break the amazing DC opening duo of Shaw and Dhawan, who totaled a score of 138 runs before Chennai was able to scratch their partnership. Nonetheless, DC finished the game in the 19th over against an utterly obliterated CSK bowling squad.
Full Squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (wk/C), Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Robin Uthappa, Imran Tahir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Karn Sharma, Jason Behrendorff, Krishnappa Gowtham, Bhagath Varma, Harishankar Reddy, KM Asif, N Jagadeesan, Hari Nishanth, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mitchell Santner, Lungi Ngidi.
Waging Odds: Punjab Kings (1.98) vs Chennai Super Kings (1.95)
Punjab Kings are the underdogs and are priced at 1.98, meaning if you bet ₹100 on them and if they win the match, you’ll be making ₹198.
Chennai Super Kings are priced at 1.95 and are the favourites. Betting ₹100 on them will earn you ₹195 if they come out as winners.
Our Prediction:
Although both teams suffered from poor bowling performance, its PBKS who have displayed a significantly better overall batting with all eyes being on KL Rahul all over again. CSK, on the other hand, saw the return of Suresh Raina with a half century after missing last year’s campaign. Friday’s match in Mumbai is highly expected to get high scoring knocks but it will be Punjab Kings taking home their second straight victory.
Place your bets for the match here.
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