Two sides who had very different opening outings meet in the Indian Premier League on Thursday when the Kings XI Punjab side take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the latest match of the new IPL season in Dubai.
The Kings XI were beaten in a Super Over in their first game of the campaign while Royal Challengers Bangalore were surprise winners over an out of sorts Sunrisers Hyderabad. It will be interesting to see if that form continues or whether there is a switch.
Kings XI Punjab
You never want to read too much into an opening game but the way the Kings XI lost it could leave a scar if they are not able to pick up a win here. They were in total control of a match they had done well to get in that position in despite a couple of horrendous overs with the ball. Despite those poor overs it looked like it was going to be a very good win against a Delhi Capitals side that plenty are rating this year when they needed one run off three balls.
They didn’t get that run and then they made a complete mess of the Super Over that followed so Kings XI have gone from what should have been a routine win to wondering just how they lost. It is important for them to put that defeat to bed with a win here and if that is to arrive then they are going to have to bat better early in their innings. Only Mayank Agarwal got going with the bat and he will need help from a talented middle order.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
It worked the other way for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their opening match. They were heading for a pretty emphatic defeat and then out of nowhere they managed to force a collapse from the Sunrisers Hyderabad and in the end won by a comfortable margin of 10 runs. You’ve got to think that the Royal Challengers going away with one there though because once again their team structure was a mess and their bowling performance wasn’t a whole lot better.
The top four of the Bangalore outfit all looked ok and in the right order, although maybe in an ideal world you would want AB de Villiers up a place but Josh Philippe down at five or six just makes no sense when he is a big hitting opening batsman. Dale Steyn has to be the least effective seamer that they have in these conditions yet he got in over the likes of Chris Morris or Isuru Udana. That will need to change as we go along if they are to be successful.
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Key Men
Mohammad Shami bowled beautifully in the opening match for the Kings XI Punjab side and given the talent he will be bowling to up front here in Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, the Punjabi outfit will need him to bowl strongly once again.
Yuzvendra Chahal was the man who turned the match on its head against the Sunrisers Hyderabad and if Royal Challengers Bangalore persist in fielding seamers who don’t offer the required skills you sense they will need him at his best once again here.
Betting
I suspect we’ll see some changes to these two sides for this match but that doesn’t mean the balance of either will be any better so it could be worth taking the form of the first matches into account. Kings XI Punjab were in control of their game for much of the match but transpired to lose it whereas Bangalore were well behind for much of their game but then hit the jackpot and came out with an undeserved victory.
The thing about the two was in the main the key Bangalore players all contributed in some way whereas for the Kings XI there is a lot more to come from the likes of KL Rahul, Nicholas Pooran and Glenn Maxwell in particular so given that Kings XI should have won their first game and Bangalore should have been beaten I think there is enough value in the Punjab side here particularly when they have the edge in the bowling department which is so often key in T20.
Tips
WON – Back Kings XI Punjab to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Sky Bet
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