The second half of the Indian Premier League double header on Sunday comes from the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore as the Royal Challengers Bangalore look to get back to winning ways when they host the Rising Pune Supergiant.
Both sides head into the match off the back of tame Good Friday defeats so they will both be wanting something from the Easter weekend which makes this one a must win game regardless of how the table looks.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Everybody expected that once Virat Kohli returned for the Royal Challengers everything would be rosy in their garden but that isn’t how it worked out in reality. Kohli did his bit by scoring a half century on his return but nothing else happened for them as they were beaten by the Mumbai Indians on Friday.
The worrying thing from that match was that they actually got themselves into a strong position but they couldn’t close it out with the ball and that is an issue which has dogged them for far too long now. They need to come up with a plan with the ball even if that means sacrificing some of their undoubted batting power.
Rising Pune Supergiant
I don’t know who came up with the idea of losing the s from what was the Rising Pune Supergiants last season but whoever it was really should have done away with the super and giant bit as well because they’ve been anything but super this season and have looked the total opposite to a giant too.
They have been abject with the ball in this tournament so far and only marginally better with the bat and had it not been for dropped catches in their first match of the season then Rising Pune would have a record reading played four and lost four. They simply have to work out a combination that gets the best out of everyone quickly.
Team News
A lot is being spoken about Chris Gayle being dropped for Shane Watson or Travis Head but in Bangalore I will believe that when I see it. They don’t have many overseas options if Gayle plays as Badree should be a cert.
Rising Pune Supergiant left Adam Zampa out in the last game and I would be amazed if he doesn’t play in this one. Lockie Ferguson is the obvious player to sit this one out.
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Betting
This is very much a chasing ground and even if Rising Pune were batting second here I wouldn’t put it past them to chase down a total so I can’t be betting on the match outcome until I know the result of the toss. I don’t really fancy the sixes given the tacky wicket that has been played on here although there is one six I do like.
That comes in the form of Virat Kohli who is an absolutely mental price to hit a six at 5/6. When these two met here last season he smashed 108 off just 58 balls with seven sixes and even on this dodgier track he cracked two sixes against a much better bowling attack than the one that Rising Pune bring here. Not many Kohli knocks on this ground don’t contain a six and I expect him to hit another here.
I’m also going to chance one in the top Rising Pune Supergiant batsman market where MS Dhoni is the man I like. We’ve not really seen the best of MS Dhoni yet in this competition but this match could be perfectly set up for him to deliver the goods.
He should be able to hide himself away down the order to avoid the Samuel Badree spell which could be the difference in the match and if the West Indian does some damage to the top order of Pune then Dhoni may not be chasing a lot to top score. At 9/1 I’ll take the chance Dhoni comes good on a ground which is nowhere near big enough for him if he gets going.
Tips
WON – Back V.Kohli – Over 0.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
Back MS.Dhoni Top Rising Pune Supergiant Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 10.00 with Betfair
Back him here:
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