IPL Hyderabad v Rajasthan: Latest Odds & Analysis

Hyderabad v Rajasthan predictions: 

• Rajasthan to win - 2.10 @ 22Bet Sports
• Avesh Khan over 1.5 wickets - 3.25 @ 22Bet Sports
• Abhishek Sharma under 24.5 runs - 1.83 @ 22Bet Sports

When: Friday 24 May, 7:30pm IST

Where: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

Watch: Star Sports and JioCinema

Best Odds: Hyderabad 1.8, Rajasthan 2.1

The two last teams to lose to the Super Kings in Chennai, Hyderabad and Rajasthan, will fight for a place in the 2024 Indian Premier League final alongside the in-form Kolkata Knight Riders.

The penultimate match of the season will take place at the MA Chidambaram Stadium (Chepauk) in Chennai, which will also host Sunday’s final.

Despite coming into this game off the back of a win and their opponents losing to Kolkata, Rajasthan have been graded as the outsiders with cricket betting sites in India. 

Loyal followers of this blog would have enjoyed our IPL playoffs preview of Rajasthan’s win on Wednesday after we managed a perfect three from three, so let’s hope we can keep the ball rolling after seeing what our favourite cricket betting apps have to offer for Friday’s Qualifier 2.

The Numbers That Matter

• The average first innings score at Chepauk since 2023: 173
• Five of the seven games this season were won batting first
• Sanju Samson in Chennai: 49 runs from four innings at 12.25
• Yashasvi Jaiswal v Hyderabad’s last bowling attack: 1-98 from 9.4 overs

Rajasthan’s second final in three years is coming

In our Qualifier 1 preview of the game between Kolkata and Hyderabad, we identified Kolkata’s far superior away form as a key factor in separating the two teams in neutral territory.

That certainly turned out to be the case as Hyderabad took their record from their last ten games outside of Rajiv Gandhi Stadium to a paltry 3-7.

On the flip side, Rajasthan have now won seven of their last ten games away from home, neutral or otherwise, following their Eliminator triumph over RCB.

Neither team has an admirable record at Chepauk - 1-9 for Sunrisers and 2-7 for Rajasthan - and they had eerily similar scores (134 and 141) in their respective away losses to the Super Kings this season.

But we’re maintaining that Rajasthan have shown themselves to be more adaptable in unfamiliar territory, and that Hyderabad’s tactics of scoring 240+ to save themselves the embarrassment of conceding 220 is beginning to unravel.

There are also some player matchups that are significantly favourable for Rajasthan which we will expand upon in our two next picks - such as Avesh Khan and Trent Boult’s bowling averages against Hyderabad’s top seven as well as some struggles for both Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi against Rajasthan’s current bowling crop.

That suggests to us that the Royals should be able to break the back of the Sunrisers’ batting unit during the powerplay, and the men in orange struggle to recover from bad starts. 

Prediction: Rajasthan to win - 2.10 @ 22Bet Sports

Avesh’s fluctuating fortunes

He was kept wicketless in two consecutive losses during Rajasthan’s late season slump and it’s no coincidence that the team bounced back at the same time that he did.

Avesh Khan now knows the best and worst of his game, going from 24 wickets in 2021 to just eight last year and now finding himself somewhere in between after some minor ups and downs.

The former Lucknow speedster has picked up five wickets in his last two matches to become Rajasthan’s second-highest wicket-taker behind Yuzi Chahal and ahead of Trent Boult. 

He ought to be wheeled out early in the powerplay on the basis of his great personal record against Sunrisers openers Abhishek (2-2) and Head (2-25) as well as his overall record of 7-103 against Hyderabad’s previous top seven and his bowling average of just 16.67 in Chennai (6-100 from 11 overs). 

Having also taken 2+ wickets in five of his last nine appearances, which includes Rajasthan’s best figures (wickets with economy as a tiebreak) in four of those nine matches, we’re excited to accept a price of 3.25 from some Indian bookmakers.

Prediction: Avesh Khan over 1.5 wickets - 3.25 @ 22Bet Sports

Is Abhishek’s best in 2024 behind him?

The Punjab-born 23-year-old has had such a whirlwind season at the top of the order for Hyderabad that he understandably had a large army supporting him for 2024 T20 World Cup selection ahead of the ageing Rohit Sharma.

Instead, India have persisted with old ways to get new results after a decade-long trophy drought. 

After weeks of wondering if his record-breaking scoring could continue for an entire two months, there are signs that he’s beginning to lose some of the consistency that drove Hyderabad’s league stage success.

Half-centuries in which he bullied lowly Lucknow and Punjab were sandwiched by four scores of fewer than 20 runs, including 12 and 3 against fellow finalists Rajasthan and Kolkata. 

This could be the toughest test he faces this season, not just because of the high stakes of the event, but a combination of a horrendous IPL record both at the venue (56 runs from four innings) and against Rajasthan’s previous bowling attack (5-68). 

Betting sites in India have set him a target of 24.5 runs and we’re expecting him to sadly fall short. 

Prediction: Abhishek Sharma under 24.5 runs - 1.83 @ 22Bet Sports