First the good news. This match isn't in Kolkata so we won't have to worry about a dodgy pitch being a factor like it was the last time these two sides met. Now the bad news. These two teams have been going so badly in recent times that it is hard to work out who has been worse. Kolkata are coming off a narrow win - but it was their only victory in their last five matches and they have missed departed stars Brendon McCullum and Ricky Ponting desperately.

As for Hyderabad, well they remain the major disappointments of the IPL and are coming off a complete flogging at their hands of Jaipur the other night. While Hyderabad's big-name batting has failed consistently, the other night it was their bowlers who were totally humiliated by Graeme Smith and Yusuf Pathan. Just about the only good news for Hyderabad is that Adam Gilchrist looks to be coming good. But their two other supposed big-hitting stars - Herschelle Gibbs and Shahid Afridi - have been on another planet during the IPL. Gibbs has 41 runs at an average of 10 while Afridi has 47 runs at 9. Both have been complete duds in the IPL and that is one big reason why their team has underachieved. Scott Styris has also contributed little. This is Hyderabad's fourth game at home and they are yet to win one in front of their local supporters.

For Kolkata, there is some big teams news to consider. Firstly, Australian Brad Hodge has left as he is on standby for Michael Clarke on Australia's tour of the West Indies. Secondly, drug-disgraced former Pakistan quick Shoaib Akhtar has been included in the Kolkata squad. However Kolkata's pace attack - headed by Ishant Sharma - has performed well and Shoaib is no certainty to get a game here. However we certainly wouldn't be surprised to see him in action here as his glamour factor will be attractive to Kolkata team bosses who won't want to keep him cooling his heels for long.

So who will win? We are going to go out on a limb here and declare that this will be the night that Hyderabad's vaunted batting lineup finally clicks in explosive fashion. Gilchrist, Gibbs, impressive Indian Rohit Sharma and Afridi - there's enough batting firepower there for an entire decade of cricket. It's just a matter of them clicking and surely they can go off with a bang here. They look much stronger than Kolkata's lineup of Akash Chopra (a blocker), Salman Batt (not good enough), Sourav Ganguly (we don't think he's great in 20-over cricket) and David Hussey (he will have to do too much). Kolkata's batting looked light-on already and it really looks thin now Hodge has gone. The form book shows that Kolkata have the stronger bowling lineup but we rarely bother assessing bowling lineups in the IPL anymore because the stronger batting side almost always prevails. And if Shoaib comes in for Kolkata, that won't necessarily be a good thing because he can bowl like a scattergun and is hardly dependable. 

On paper, Hyderabad should be $1.40 to win this game and we think this is the night they simply must stand up and show their true colours. The 'home' factor - where they have not won a game - should add more desperatation and determination for Hyderabad. But put in its most simple terms, Hyderbad's batting (if it even half fires) can blow any opposition away while we are far from convinced Kolkata's batsmen can cut the mustard. Get on Hyderabad for a two unit bet $1.80 with Centrebet or TAB Sportsbet. We think that is way over the odds even if Hyderabad play to two thirds of their potential here. We are very confident.
 


Rajasthan (Jaipur) v Delhi
 
This should be an interesting clash of two of the better performed sides of the IPL. Certainly, Jaipur took all before them with wins in five of their first six matches before a big hurdle against Mumbai. However Shane Warne's mob seemed to get back on track with their easy win over Hyderabad the other night. Delhi have lost their last two matches and we really feel their batting depth is starting to be exposed. Two men have done everything for Delhi - big-hitting openers Virender Sehwag and Gautum Gambhir. These two men got 103 runs between them the other night, yet it still wasn't enough to beat Chennai. The two Delhi openers sit No.1 and No.4 on the list of IPL runscorers but they simply haven't had enough help from the rest of their teammates. Put simply, get Sehwag and Gambhir out early and you will almost certainly demolish Delhi.

The interesting thing is that when these two teams last played, Delhi secured one of the most comprehensive wins in the IPL, a nine-wicket flogging. And there wasn't a vast difference in the playing stock with Graeme Smith (Jaipur) the only big difference in either side since that clash. However the fortunes of both sides have changed dramatically. Delhi, the early tournament pacesetter, has had its confidence battered recently while Jaipur, under Warne's leadership, has gone from strength to strength. A factor in this game is that Jaipur are playing at home where they have not lost any of the four matches it has played there.

All games involving Delhi are perilously hard to assess but we always have a leaning to tip against them because of the weakness of their batting outside of Sehwag and Gambhir. The battle is basically won against Delhi if you get the openers cheaply and manage to negotiate Glenn McGrath with the new ball. However we are always wary that if Sehwag and Gambhir go off like firecrackers - like they've done for most of the IPL - and McGrath becomes a menace, then Delhi can be almost impossible to toss. So it's for that reason that we will stay out of match betting here (even though we do lean towards Jaipur to get the chocolates). So no official play on match betting.

We do, however remain huge fans of the Delhi openers so we will be looking to make some money around them. There is a reason Sehwag has bludgoened 270 IPL runs at 45 while Gambhir (the new Tendulkar) has 305 runs at 50. They are bloody good players!! We like Gambhir and Sehwag taking on some of the Jaipur top-order in head-to-head batting markets. 1 - because they are great, in-form players and 2 - because Delhi's openers should have easier bowling to contend with than Jaipur's. Sehwag and Gambhir will be facing unheralded swingman Sohail Tanvir and Indian quick Munaf Patel. While the Jaipur top-order will be up against Glenn McGrath and Mohammad Asif. We know which new-ball attack we would prefer to face, even though Tanvir did take six wickets in a match recently.

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