The new IPL season started yesterday, with the Kolkata Knight Riders cruising to an impressive 11 run victory over the defending champions the Deccan Chargers. Owais Shah (58*) and Angelo Matthews (65*) were the heroes, putting on 130 runs for the third wicket. Despite skipper Adam Gilchrist smashing 54 from 34 balls, the Chargers could not find their way back into the match, and eventually finished on 150/7.
Today’s first match sees the Mumbai Indians take on the Rajasthan Royals, as both teams look to improve on last season’s performances, when they finished sixth and seventh respectively. Mumbai signed West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard, in a tie-breaker auction, for a figure rumoured to be around $2.8million.
The Indians are favourites for the match, priced at 8/11 with Ladbrokes, while the Royals are at 13/10.
Unsurprisingly, captain Sachin Tendulkar is favourite to top score for the Indians at 3/1, followed by JP Duminy, who is at 4/1. Sanath Jayasuriya is at 5/1 with Skybet, and Shikhar Dhawan is an 11/2 shot. Unfortunately, Mumbai fans will have to wait to catch a glimpse of new signing Pollard, as he is on Internation duty with the West Indies.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith is the favourite to be top batsman for the Royals in this match, priced at 3/1. Englishman Michael Lumb, who has a Twenty20 average of 25.41 with a huge strike rate of 148.51, is next in the betting, priced at 4/1. Swapnil Asnodkar and Damien Martyn are at 9/2 and 11/2 respectively, and Faiz Fazal is at 6/1.
The Indians are priced at 5/6 to win the first six overs, compared to the Royals, who are at 11/10 with Bet365. Mumbai are also favourites to have the highest opening partnership, at 17/20, which seems like good value when you take into account the vast experience that Tendulkar and Jayasuriya have between them. The Royals are 11/10 to make the highest opening partnership.
Mumbai are reasonably well favoured for the whole competition, and are the 7/1 fourth favourites with Ladbrokes. The Royals are the outsiders to win the tournament, and are priced at 10/1. The Dehli Daredevils are the favourites at 4/1, followed by the Chennai Super Kings, who are at 6/1.
Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals betting odds
tags: betting, graeme smith, indian premier league, ipl, jayasuryia, jp duminy, kieron pollard, odds, sachin tendulkar
