The weekend is over and we are back to one match in the Indian Premier League for the rest of the week. On Monday the action comes from Mohali as the Kings XI Punjab host the Royal Challengers Bangalore in a match between two sides who are drinking at the last chance saloon.
Both sides go into the match with three wins to their name for the season so both pretty much have to win out from here if they are to make it to the playoffs. That makes this a must win game for both which will add to the interest.
Kings XI Punjab
It has been a pretty poor season so far for the Kings XI but they have shown there are signs of life in the last three matches. They have won two of them and lost the other to a tasty looking Kolkata side so we shouldn’t give up on them completely.
They have finally found a batting order which works and having so many solid Indian bowlers helps with that. It means Amla, Maxwell and Miller can all play if selected. Mohit and Sandeep Sharma have been excellent so far too.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Bangalore have all the star power any side could possibly want but time and time again they have failed to deliver with the ball. They go into this match off the back of a win over Pune last time out but even in that match their bowlers didn’t really deliver, they were indebted to a Virat Kohli masterclass to get them out of trouble.
You would think Chris Jordan will come on for the run though so maybe their bowling will improve over the remainder of the competition but whether a side who have haemorrhaged runs all season can stop conceding them with the pressure really on remains to be seen.
Team news
Kings XI were pretty convincing against the Delhi Daredevils last time out, so much so that they don’t need to change their side if they don’t want to although David Miller’s lack of form must be testing the patience of those who select the side.
Royal Challengers Bangalore left Chris Gayle out of their last match with Travis Head playing instead. That isn’t a move I can see continuing with the wages Gayle is on and the popularity the guy has. That might be the only change.
Form
Kings XI Punjab: LLWLLLWLW
Royal Challengers Bangalore: WLLWLLLW
Head to head: Kings XI Punjab 10-6 Royal Challengers Bangalore
In Mohali: Kings XI Punjab 3-2 Royal Challengers Bangalore
PCA Stadium
There have been five matches here now and they are generally getting higher scoring so the wicket has recovered from the insane amount of cricket that was played on it over the last couple of months and the batsmen are able to play their shots.
With Bangalore involved you would think this one will be high scoring too although the Kings XI have a good attack for this track so that isn’t set in stone. With what is at stake this should be a hugely competitive game which is full of runs.
Betting
I’ve a feeling the Kings XI might get the job done here but you have to be quite tough to take on Virat Kohli in this form and I’m not sure I am that so I’m going to leave the match betting alone. One thing I definitely can’t be doing is backing Bangalore at the odds on prices they currently trade at with their bowling so leaky.
Given that is the case I’ll head to the sixes where the line looks quite high for this ground. I guess it is high at 11.5 because of the Bangalore batting line up but they’ve not actually hit that many sixes this season in relative to the power in their line up and the tiny ground they play their home matches on.
They have hit 62 sixes in all this season with 11 of them coming on Saturday when Kohli himself hit seven in that majestic knock. He had only hit nine in seven matches before that though so even he isn’t a prolific six hitter while AB de Villiers looks to have lost a little form with scores of 4 and 1 in his last two matches.
Kings XI have rope clearers in Maxwell and Miller but you’ve got to think the likes of Vijay and Amla will occupy the crease most of the time and they don’t clear the ropes as regularly, certainly not ones as big as this anyway.
That is the other reason I’m going under 11.5 here. The ground is huge and while the Bangalore bowling attack concedes plenty of runs they have enough bowlers to take pace off the ball and make clearing these large boundaries tough. I’m not expecting to see a dozen or more sixes here.
Tips
Back Under 11.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Paddy Power
Back them here:
