IPL Boundary Blackjack - Round 2, Match 3 & 4 (Double-header) SRH v LSG & RCB v CSK

It might be Easter but the only thing they'll be searching for in the IPL is lost balls with another double header coming up today.

SRH v LSG

First up Sunrisers host Lucknow in a day night game at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium.

This is SRH's 3rd match of the campaign and they've already demonstrated that their attacking batsmen will be a force to contend with once again.

Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma certainly found their range against KKR last time out with scores of 46 and 48 both from 21 balls, hitting 17 boundaries between them.

Klaasen too managed a half century, albeit his innings by contrast was a little more sedate. The South African has struggled to re-capture the form that made him one of the most feared middle order white-ball players in the world for a period but the time at the crease can only help.

They mercilessly flayed the KKR bowling attack to all parts of Eden Gardens but took particular delight in hitting Chakravarthy out of the attack.

As for LSG they'll be disappointed to have lost against DC and particularly concerned with their batting efforts.

Only Mitch Marsh offered again kind of resistance as LSG's batsmen got out to a succession of poor shots on a pitch that really required a little more application, even in a T20. That left them with 2 significant issues.

Firstly they were forced into bringing Shahbaz Ahmed in as the impact sub. No offence to Shahbaz but he is the archetypal 'bits and pieces' cricketer who isn't a good enough bowler or batsmen to command a place in the XI.

Secondly, they failed to bat out their 20 overs which really should be a criminal offence. From 138 for 6, they collapsed to 141 all out with 8 balls still to spare.

160 on that pitch might have been a winning score and indeed, with the way that the LSG quicks started it probably would have been. They reduced DC to 26-4 but ultimately, the low total allowed DC a period in which to rebuild, helped in no small part by the fact that they were able to milk 25 runs from the 13 balls bowled by LSG's 5th bowler.

This LSG attack has some pace, skill and hostility in it. Let's see how they fair on this track and against this top order. I suspect SRH's batsmen will take the view that the harder it comes down the farther it can go!

You can see that this pitch and of course the way SRH play on it has the potential for some monster scoring! The last 2 matches LSG have played at this ground saw 50 and 51 boundaries scored.

The 14 boundaries last time out was a rain impacted match that pulls that average down but there is no chance of that today with conditions set to be hot (32C) and sunny when this match begins. Will that dry out the pitch? Let's see...

RCB v CSK

Match 2 is a biggy! These are probably the 2 best supported teams in the IPL with reigning champions RCB having finally shaken the monkey off their back by winning their maiden IPL title last season.

It also helps to lessen the banter from other teams, particularly their southern neighbours CSK who have won 5 IPL titles themselves.

However, the times they are a changin'! CSK finished rock bottom last year and on current form they look more likely to be challenging for the wooden spoon again than for a 6th title.

After the humiliation of their defeat against the Royals in their opening match, CSK's batsmen did at least show their capabilities against PBKS on Friday night.

Mahtre hit a classly 73, Dube made 45 and Sarfraz Khan, a batter of genuine talent who's never really found a role/place at an IPL franchise over the years, hit an incredible 32 from 12 balls to lift CSK to 209.

It was a good score rather than an unchasable score (do those exist anymore?) but CSK's bowlers never really got the game under control or looked likely to get back into the match after PBKS's blistering start.

For RCB, a 2nd home match of the season and one against a side that you wouldn't expect to see in the play-offs, offers an excellent opportunity for them to establish a strong start to defending their title.

You could argue that the week and a bit break is the only thing that could go against them. Kohli, Paddikal and Patidar all looked in prime form during their opener against SRH and you get the feeling that they'll be licking their lips at the thought of facing a CSK attack that has so far gone at a shade under 11 an over in their 2 IPL 2026 matches.

Could this pitch offer CSK's bowlers something more? Potentially! We do often see the Chinnaswamy give some early movement both off the surface and through the air and CSK's seamers really look like they need that in order to penetrate some of the stronger batting line-ups in this tournament.

Jacob Duffy showed just that in his opening spell against SRH and was ably supported by the experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar whose value to this RCB team can't be underestimated despite him not always taking the headlines.

The toss then could be very important! SRH did well to recover to a score of 201 in their match here even if it was ultimately chased down with ease. If CSK have the top knocked off their batting line-up can they do something similar? From what we've seen so far, I'm not sure I'd back them too.

If either side gets through that opening burst, then it's game on! The pitch will likely offer good pace and carry and the boundaries are pretty short!

Round 2 IPL Boundary Blackjack

The 2 x double headers mean that we accelerating through Round 2 at some pace.

So far, it again seems that going below par with your predictions is the way to go with @bitandi leading the way after yesterday's games. However, @blanchy has gone so conservative with his predictions that he's become the Jacob Rees-Mogg of IPL Boundary Blackjack. Nanny would not approve of his performance so far.

As we've noted above, there is certainly the potential for both these games to offer high scores and big boundary counts. Will we see the low-risk tactics blown out of the water or is it still a case of better to get points on the board every game rather than go bust in the search for a monster score?

Position	Player	Points	Hits	Busts
1	@bitandi	88	2	0
2	@fullcoverbetting	80	2	0
3	@tengolotodo	77	2	0
4	@doombot75	72	2	0
5	@imfarhad	70	2	0
6	@hatdogsensei	68	2	0
7	@r1c4rd0	67	2	0
8	@valentin86	64	2	0
9	@tortangkahoy	61	2	0
10	@onemanonewrite	57	2	0
11	@gwajnberg	55	2	0
12	@blockchainfpl	52	1	1
13	@shitsignals	50	1	1
14	@wildlifelover	50	1	1
15	@talesfrmthecrypt	46	1	1
16	@rajpootg	40	1	1
17	@blanchy	18	2	0
18	@tsnaks	0	0	0
19	@uwelang	0	0	0
20	@niallon11	0	0	0
21	@sportsgeek	0	0	0