IPL - Mumbai v Delhi

This is a top versus bottom clash. Delhi have been taking all before them with a four from five record while Mumbai (minus star Sachin Tendulkar) have been on struggle street and won just one from five. Mumbai's solitary win, however, did come in their most recent match in an indication they may be starting to find something resembling form. Dwayne Bravo and Robin Uthappa hauled Mumbai to victory last time but they desperately need Tendulkar back to add some starch and experience to their batting. Will he play here? Well, it certainly doesn't look like it. Breaking reports out of India insist Tendulkar's injured groin will be kept on ice again and Shaun Pollock will lead the side again. That is despite Tendulkar playing a practice game a few days ago. With no Tendulkar, the batting responsibility again falls on Bravo, Uthappa and Sanath Jaysuriya. 

However, on the other side of the coin, there is a chance that Mumbai's batsmen will not have to contend with Delhi pace star Glenn McGrath. McGrath has a sore shoulder and, given that Delhi are on top of the ladder, there is a possibility he could be rested here. The key to the match for Delhi is again their swashbuckling openers Virender Sehwag and Gautum Gambhir. We love this opening duo and they have been the batting stars of the IPL. The much under-rated Gambhir is the IPL's second top runscorer with 224 runs at 56 (strike rate 140) while the explosive Sehwag is no.3 with 207 runs at 51 (SR 199!!).

We keep expecting Delhi to slip up because they're batting outside of their dangerous openers looks vulnerable, although AB de Villiers does come in to provide some strength. You would think Gambhir and Sehwag would falter at some stage and expose some cracks in the rest of the Delhi batting. But they certainly have shown no signs of stopping yet and we have learnt some lessons and aren't prepared to bet against them here. If McGrath plays, Delhi has the clear edge in the bowling but if the ex Australian star is rested then both bowling attacks look to have something of a brittle edge.

There is plenty of big hitters in this game on both sides so we tip this could be a high scoring affair especially if McGrath is out. Even though Delhi are on top of the table, we aren't prepared to tip them for a bet here because of question marks on McGrath and also because we think the Delhi's questionable middle-order batting strength could be exposed at some stage. They definately aren't worth touching at around the $1.50 mark. But neither are we prepared to put our hard earned on Mumbai until Tendulkar comes in and we have seen more from them. It's time to look at an exotic bet to make some cash.

SEHWAG AND GAMBHIR

The two Delhi openers just keep blazing away. Surely they can't keep doing it forever but perhaps they can! Both are in spectacular form. For Delhi to win, we think at least one of these two has to fire - and on the evidence so far they will. But rather than backing them to be the highest opening partnership (at about $1.75) let's see if we can enhance our profits by backing both men to be Delhi's top scorer.

We don't like the opening partnership bet because Mumbai do have Sanath Jayasuriya opening and he can always launch a big opening stand. But outside of Gambhir and Sehwag, Delhi's batting looks as thin as rice paper (possibly with the exception of AB de Villiers). In four out of Delhi's five matches, either Sehwag or Gambhir has been the team's topscorer - and we see no reason this would change here. Have a 0.5 unit stake on both Sehwag ($4) and Gambhir ($4.50) to be Delhi's hi-bat with Paddypower.

Rajasthan Royals (Jaipur) v Chennai

SHANE Warne's Jaipur come into this game riding a supreme wave of confidence. The team that nobody expected to win more than a game or two has four wins on the trot and has equal top billing on the IPL ladder. Mr Cricket followers will also have a soft spot for Jaipur after we had the biggest bet on the tournament on them last start. There are several keys to Jaipur's unexpected success. The sharp captaincy - and bowling - of Shane Warne, the masterful opening batting of South African Graeme Smith and the all-round prowess of Shane Watson. But probably Jaipur's biggest asset - most certainly in recent times - is they have a settled team. They have had no big name players fly the coup while other sides have been decimated when their top players have left to international committments. 

Jaipur's rivals here, Chennai, are a case in point. Chennai were flying high and were unbeaten until Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey and Jacob Oram left. What happened then? They lost - immediately. In tonight's game, there are several mouthwatering contests within the contest. Two of the best left-handed openers of the last decade (Graeme Smith - Jaipur) and Stephen Fleming (Chennai) - can help decide the fate of their sides. Then there is hard-hitting Jaipur batsman Yusuf Pathan and Chennai's million dollar man MS Dhoni. Not to mention the tantalising contest between Shane Warne (Jaipur) and Muttiah Muralidaran (Chennai).

Warne's mob are the favourites here but we don't think there is much between these teams. After playing one game without Hayden and Hussey, Chennai should be more settled now and do have Fleming, Partiv Patel and MS Dhoni as decent batting weapons. Jaipur do look to have an edge in the batting department with Graeme Smith, Pathan and Watson - not to mention impressive youngster Swapnil Asnodkar. However, Chennai look to have a slight edge in the bowling ranks with Muralidaran, Makhaya Ntini and towering paceman Manpreet Gony. Jaipur do have Warne but Watson can easily be got to and the rest of the bowling attack lacks experience. All in all it looks a pretty even clash. As with the other IPL clash tonight, it's hard to tip either side with much authority. We do like the look of Warne's team but we refuse to write Chennai off - so we won't delve into match betting here.

WARNE V MURALIDARAN

Lasseters has posted an intriguing market on the spin bowling clash between Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralidaran. It just goes to show how good Warne is, because he is the clear favourite ($1.75) even though he has long retired from international cricket. If you look at their stats in the tournament, Warne (7-125, ave 17.85) deserves to be favourite over Murali (3-112, ave 37).

However we like the $2.05 odds on Murali in this market for several reasons. Firstly, Muralidaran is a certainty to bowl all of his quota of four overs for Chennai - while Warne is no stone cold certainty to do the same. Warney only bowled himself for two overs in Jaipur's most recent clash and went for 1-20. Warney has done a fabulous job as captain but we think it is starting to get to the time of the tournament where this will be a bit of a mental grind for him. Captaining the multi-million dollar franchise and being the star bowler can't be simple - especially in 20 over cricket - and it is easy to see how his bowling could occasionally suffer.

We get the feeling Warne may have already had some of his best moments in the sun this tournament - while Murali's may be yet to come. We find it impossible to believe that Murali - the world-record wicket-taker - won't have a big wicket-taking day at some stage. He has shown previously that he can be just about impossible to play and he is a champion who is certainly over the odds at $2.05 in this head-to-head bowl off. It may sound un-Australian but Murali is worth a 1 unit bet here.

PATHAN V WATSON

We cannot say how impressed we have been with hard-hitting Indian batsman Yusuf Pathan in this tournament. He has the fastest fifty of the IPL and also has 154 runs for the tournament, only eight runs behind Jaipur's leading runscorer Shane Watson. We get the feeling that Pathan is only going to get better as the tournament goes on. He can be devastating with his flashing blade but also has a very mature head on his shoulders. Watson, also, has been in fine form for Jaipur. But the Australian was rattled the other night when he was given out to a shocking lbw decision and we know that Watson does let things like this play on his mind. Watson could also be starting to think of things further afield, such as Australia's looming tour of the West Indies (which he is not part of). 

Pathan also has an advantage over Watson in batting markets because he comes in ahead of Watson in the Jaipur order. Pathan normally bats at 3 or 4 with Watson one slot behind at 4 or five. Watson is no slouch but we have been so, so impressed by Pathan and we think he has a great future. Pathan is worth a 0.5 unit bet at $1.90 in Lasseters' head-to-head batting market against Watson.

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