The first week of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has proven to be as exciting as people anticipated, with the new teams giving a good account of themselves and some old ones looking more interesting than ever with the big makeovers they got after the mega auction.
Two teams who had similar starts to the season were Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Super Giants, both ending up losing big and embarrassingly, bar a couple of individual performances in their Sportsbook games.
The Super Giants have since got a chance at redemption, and they blew the Chennai Super Kings out of the water Thursday to seal a win in a big chase. With that confidence behind them, they go in as slight favorites for Monday’s clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Sportsbook
This much is reflected in the IPL betting odds for Monday’s game as well, with Sunrisers given longer IPL outright odds than the newbies. Can this team of youngsters sort itself out against the Lucknow Super Giants?
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Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Lucknow Super Giants Odds
Sunrisers Hyderabad (+110)
It wasn’t a pretty start to IPL 2022 at all for Sunrisers Hyderabad, who were questioned by their own fans – and even trolled to some extent – about the makeup of their team, particularly the absence of stalwart David Warner, with whom the management fell out last season.
That sort of reaction is natural from fans, of course, and perhaps not something to pay too much heed to after just one game. The Sunrisers brain trust – with Kane Williamson and Tom Moody at the helm – will have pondered deeper questions, such as the lack of a quality spinner in their ranks, and the position in which Nicholas Pooran batted as they were bent completely out of shape by the Rajasthan Royals in the first game.
Sportsbook
We might see a slight reshuffle on some fronts, which could perhaps be the way Shreyas Gopal comes in as the frontline spinner, with Washington Sundar reduced to a more supporting role in the bowling department.
We could also see Marco Jansen come in to add some heft to their fast bowling lineup, although that is less likely given how Romario Shepherd performed for them with the bat the other evening. The Lucknow Super Giants are among the better batting units on paper in this tournament and Sunrisers will have to have a hard look at their bowling lineup.
Lucknow Super Giants (-138)
The Super Giants reacted brilliantly after being flattened by fellow newbies Gujarat Titans in the Sportsbook game, putting in a strong performance in chase against the Chennai Super Kings. Evin Lewis took wonderfully to his new role in the middle order and youngster Ayush Badoni showed in both matches that he’s a superb find for them.
We think they will line up with the same team on Monday, and we think it is good enough to make them favorites for this game. Expect KL Rahul to get some runs against one of the shakier bowling lineups.
Hyderabad vs Lucknow Pick Of The Week: Lucknow Super Giants
As mentioned above, we think the confidence-boosting win against the Chennai Super Kings will do the Super Giants a world of good. They are covered in all departments.
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We’ve already mentioned the batters, but their spin options in Ravi Bishnoi, Krunal Pandya and the occasional assistance of Deepak Hooda will sit nicely with a pace bowling attack of Avesh Khan, Andrew Tye and Dushmantha Chameera. We see them dominating more phases of play than Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday.
Hyderabad vs Lucknow Best Bet
LSG to win and KL Rahul (LSG) To Hit A Six (+120)
Make no mistake about it, KL Rahul is an IPL colossus. And in the win against the Chennai Super Kings, there was evidence of him loosening himself up and going back to a more free-flowing version of himself than we saw in his years as Punjab Kings captain.
Sportsbook
We think one of the IPL best bets in this game is also him scoring a fifty while LSG wins (+260 on Sportsbook), but if you’re a more conservative punter, then go with the pick above.
