Two of the bottom three sides in the Indian Premier League meet in the one match in the tournament on Thursday when the Royal Challengers Bangalore host the Gujarat Lions in a match which promises to be another explosive cracker.
The Royal Challengers shifted off the bottom with a washout on Tuesday while the Gujarat Lions are occupying the basement slot but will move above their opponents should they win the match so there is enough at stake here.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
That washout on Tuesday left the beaten finalists of last year with five points from eight matches which means the most they can get from the season now is 17pts. With a horrible run rate it would be a surprise if that is enough to make it into the top four so it could be that their season is done. They certainly have to win every game to have a chance.
If they are going to do that then their batting line up needs to strike fear in the opposition again. It should do that anyway just by looking at the names on the team sheet but they just aren’t delivering as a unit. That said it will only take one big knock to get them going and if that is going to come it could well be here.
Gujarat Lions
Although they have played a match fewer than the Royal Challengers Bangalore and therefore can make it to 18pts for the season if they win out from here you would think it is unlikely that the Gujarat Lions make it into the knockout stages from this position. Two wins so far suggests that is even more unlikely.
There has been no evidence at all that the Lions can find a bowling attack which can either take wickets or stem the flow of runs and that is the real issue. If they can somehow stumble on an attack then they know they have the batting to see off any side in the competition but their persistence to pack their side with batsmen is showing no sign of ending.
Team News
It is hard to know which combination these sides will put together but with both of them needing to win out you would think they would play their star men. That could mean we see Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Shane Watson for Bangalore and we could see a return for James Faulkner for the Gujarat Lions.
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Betting
I’m going with a few bets in this match. I won’t dwell too much on the match outcome because of the size of the ground and the chance of the chasing side winning the match so I’ll head straight for the side markets.
The sixes line is 15.5 but when you think that these two combined for 25 in Rajkot earlier in the season and 22 when the two teams met here last season that line doesn’t look high enough. Both sides are loaded with batting power over bowling ability and on a small ground which hasn’t been used for 12 days the sixes should flow here.
One man who is overpriced to hit a six is Virat Kohli. He has hit four sixes in four innings this season and already has his highest score of the season against this opposition this season. Kohli has sixes in both matches on this ground this season and at 8/11 he’s a decent price for at least another.
Chris Gayle came to the party against the Lions earlier in the season with a brutal 77 from just 38 deliveries including a barrel load of sixes and if he can repeat that he will be a major contender to win the man of the match award. Gayle is due to explode into life in Bangalore and at 15/2 he seems a perfectly fair price to nail the match honours.
Tips
Back Over 15.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Skybet
Back it here:
WON – Back V.Kohli Over 0.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
Back C.Gayle Man of the Match for a 1/10 stake at 8.50 with Paddy Power
Back him here:
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