Hyderabad v Lucknow IPL Best Bets

Hyderabad v Lucknow predictions: 

• Hyderabad highest 6 over score - 1.57 @ 22Bet Sports
• KL Rahul over 33.5 runs - 1.83 @ 22Bet Sports
• Travis Head to score 30+ runs - 1.8 @ 22Bet Sports

When: Wednesday 8 May, 7:30pm IST

Where: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad

Watch: Star Sports and JioCinema

Best Odds: Hyderabad 1.73, Lucknow 2.1

The 57th of 70 regular season matches in the 2024 IPL could be one of the most consequential and decisive when it comes to the run to the playoffs.

Mumbai’s surprise home win over Hyderabad on Monday has left the contest wide open with three teams tied on 12 points from third to fifth - and Delhi will have joined the trio on 12 points should they have defeated Rajasthan on Tuesday.

Indian cricket betting sites have rated Hyderabad favourites to defeat Lucknow for the first time in their history (0-3), despite the Super Giants already winning in Bengaluru and Chennai in 2024.

With the men in orange finishing their season with three straight home games, backing them to make the top four could be an outstanding play if they can continue the form that saw them win three of their first four home games of the season.

The Numbers That Matter

• Hyderabad had the highest opening partnership in nine games this year
• Three of the four IPL 2024 games in Hyderabad saw 200+ first innings runs
• Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned Hyderabad’s best figures (outright or equal) in their last three games
• Deepak Hooda in Hyderabad: 165 runs from 15 innings at 15.00 (best: 32*)

Sunrisers to start quicker

There’s quite a bit of unpredictability surrounding these two sides at the moment, with Hyderabad’s batting falling away slightly over the last fortnight but their bowling still remaining quite expensive.

That’s why they have lost three of their last four games, despite retaining one of the league’s best run rates (10.24rpo) of the season.

Lucknow, meanwhile, can’t string together consecutive wins at home at the moment. 

Their six games at the Ekana this season all alternated between victory and defeat for the Super Giants, and on that basis solely they’re due to bounce back after losing to Kolkata, but of course it’s not that simple.

One substantial gulf in class between these two sides that has remained over the course of the season is their powerplay scoring.

Sunrisers have begun losing wickets during the powerplay a little more frequently in their last few games, but have nonetheless come out of nine matches this season with the higher six-over score thanks to blistering scoring rates from openers Travis Head (12.45rpo) and Abhishek Sharma (11.85rpo) as well as Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s eight powerplay wickets at 7.84rpo.

Lucknow, on the other hand, recorded the highest six over score in just three matches so far this season, and don’t have a settled top order heading into the business end of the season after again dropping Quinton de Kock following a run of five scores of fewer than 20 runs from six innings.

Prediction: Hyderabad highest 6 over score - 1.57 @ 22Bet Sports

KL the anchor matches up well

Lucknow captain KL Rahul (x2) and Marcus Stoinis (x3) have shared the top scorer honours for the Super Giants in their last three games and betting sites have again rightfully graded KL as a clear favourite to do so again.

He returns to a venue where he averages 38 in the IPL following two half-centuries from his last three visits, albeit the most recent one coming way back in 2019.

If T20 cricket is all about individual matchups, this is a game that should play well into his favour.

His nearly 30 overs faced against Lucknow’s previous six bowlers in all T20s returned him 208 runs at an average of 52. 

On top of that, he’s even got an average of 85 against Pat Cummins in Tests and ODIs combined to demonstrate that the Sunrisers captain shouldn’t be troubling him.

Cricket betting apps are offering a pretty poor price for him to top score, which is already a low percentage play considering he can score a half-century and still be eclipsed by his in-form teammate Stoinis.

Prediction: KL Rahul over 33.5 runs - 1.83 @ 22Bet Sports

Head-first into another pile of runs

Australian opener Travis Head has been one of Hyderabad’s most consistent batters at home this season, scoring 152 runs from four innings including three scores of 30+ runs. 

In addition to topping their run scoring on more occasions (three, all in their last six matches) than any of his teammates, Head and his fellow opener Abhishek are the only members of the side to score 30+ on three separate occasions in Hyderabad this campaign.

He hasn’t faced much of Lucknow’s bowling attack in recent years, but his steady flow of runs across 2024, including impactful innings in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and at home in his last six innings shows he can take on opening bowlers in all colours across all venues.

A price of 1.83 for something he has done in four of his last six matches looks well worth investing in.

Prediction: Travis Head to score 30+ runs - 1.8 @ 22Bet Sports