With the weekend having come and gone we are back to one match per day in the Indian Premier League starting with a really big game on Monday as the Kolkata Knight Riders host the Royal Challengers Bangalore in a match with potentially huge implications going into the playoffs.
Kolkata look safe for a playoff spot but a win here would absolutely confirm it while Bangalore begin the final week of the regular season knowing if they are to make it into the postseason themselves they have to win their last three matches.
Kolkata Knight Riders
A fair sized win here will send the Knight Riders back to the top of the league and it would confirm their place in the playoffs which would be a nice boost with two more matches to come later in the week.
Yusuf Pathan has come into some really good form so if the openers can get back to getting Kolkata off to solid starts you would think that is a combination which will really work. The Knight Riders’ bowlers have been pretty good all season in the main and they’ll need to be again here.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Bangalore showed what they are capable of with the bat against the Gujarat Lions last time out when AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli put on a masterclass of how to take a bowling attack to the cleaners. They both scored tons, Bangalore put up nearly 250 and won by a landslide and everyone connected with the side will hope they can repeat that a couple more times this season.
For once they bowled well against the Lions too but they’ll need to repeat those heroics with the ball as they are unlikely to have it all their own way with the bat on a wicket which is nothing like as flat as the one they play on in Bangalore.
Team news
Kolkata seem to have found a nice settled line up at long last and I’m not expecting them to change that unless they have any last minute injuries. Sunil Narine is back in the side and they always look better with him in the ranks.
Have Bangalore’s patience ran out with Chris Gayle? He can’t buy a double figure score. I’ve a feeling he’ll get one last go here purely because the alternative isn’t a much better option but the big West Indian desperately needs a score.
Form
Kolkata Knight Riders: WLWWWLLWWLW
Royal Challengers Bangalore: WLLWLLLWWLW
Head to head: Kolkata Knight Riders 10-8 Royal Challengers Bangalore
In Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders 4-2 Royal Challengers Bangalore
Eden Gardens
By and large the Eden Gardens wicket had been playing ok in this tournament but we saw some discernible turn in the rain affected last match here and given that match was only two days ago I’m expecting similar conditions here.
The boundaries remain reachable with the big hits but I don’t think there will be much pace in the wicket so this could come down to who finds the gaps and pushes the fielders the best, much different to the run fest we saw between these two in Bangalore.
Betting
Bangalore go into this match as the favourites to win and I totally get that given the batting destruction they caused in their last match. Who in their right mind would take Kohli and de Villiers on in their current form? Well me actually!
This isn’t Bangalore and they are not going to be able to hit through the line of the ball without a care in the world. The ball is going to seam and it is going to turn and batting isn’t going to be that easy. Bangalore will need it to be easy to protect their bowling attack but we know it won’t be.
With Yusuf Pathan back in form for the Kolkata Knight Riders we know they can win a match with their bowlers but also we know they can win a high scoring shootout if the Royal Challengers do happen to get away from them and that is a nice position to be in.
I bang the best bowling attack wins most T20 matches drum quite regularly in my previews but I do it because it is true and that legend can serve me well again here I believe. I’m with the home side in this one especially at odds against.
Tips
Back Kolkata Knight Riders to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Boylesports
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