The second match of the day in the Indian Premier League looks like an intriguing battle as the powerful Royal Challengers Bangalore take on the Delhi Daredevils at the Chinnaswamy.
Both sides go into the match off the back of a win so should be full of confidence and on this ground that should make for plenty of fireworks and an exciting game of cricket.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
The home side are tricky to judge at this point because the only game they have played so far was over after about 15 overs once AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli had got to work. They conceded 180+ in their first match but when they were defending 220+ that was fine. It will be interesting to see if they can restrict sides when they don’t have a massive total on the board.
One crumb of comfort the Bangalore fans can take from the opening match is the with Chris Gayle failing completely they still have even more to come with the bat but all eyes will be on their bowling attack as that will define their campaign.
Delhi Daredevils
The Daredevils lost their opening match in Kolkata but bounced back with a convincing win over the Kings XI Punjab last time out and that should have boosted their confidence nicely going into this one.
Amit Mishra was brilliant in the previous match and he along with the captain Zaheer Khan will be vital for the Delhi side here. They have to find a way to use their variations and keep this Bangalore side in check else this will be a long evening for them.
Team news
Bangalore aren’t expected to make any changes to the side which won so convincingly last time out which means they will go in with the daunting top four of Gayle, Kohli, de Villiers and Watson.
Delhi are also likely to stick with a winning combination with the power in their batting complimenting the variety in their bowling attack but the likes of JP Duminy, Carlos Brathwaite and Chris Morris all having to come to the party.
Form
Royal Challengers Bangalore: W
Delhi Daredevils: LW
M Chinnaswamy Stadium
Anyone familiar with the IPL will know that this is a high scoring ground where the bowlers wilt in the face of an onslaught from the batsmen and I’m expecting no different here.
Teams who succeed here line up the big hitting batsmen and send them in with nothing to lose in what often becomes a shootout and we’ve already seen that in the only match here so far when both sides piled up the runs and scored over 180 runs.
Betting
There is something in my head that is saying to me that Delhi are value in this match but then I look at the record of Bangalore’s top three against the Daredevils and I can’t possibly see how the visitors can win even allowing for the fact that anything is capable of being chased down here.
I think if anything Delhi are a classy batsman short of being able to be really competitive but if the likes of Quinton de Kock and JP Duminy come off and one of Morris or Brathwaite deliver some fireworks you just never know.
I’m going to leave the match betting and head for one of the side markets for a bet on this game. It comes in the form of the Royal Challengers Bangalore six over score where the line looks very low at 46.5 runs.
With no scoreboard pressure Kolkata managed 47/0 against this Delhi attack in the first six overs so you’ve got to think this powerful Bangalore side can get cracking from the off. Even with Gayle not firing they were 49/1 in their previous match at the end of the powerplay and I’ve got to think they will be around 8 an over for the powerplay here.
With a top four of Gayle, Kohli, de Villiers and Watson an early wicket isn’t going to negate the run rate too much but if either of them get away this 46.5 line will be eaten up in absolutely no time. I’m on the overs there.
Tips
WON – Back Royal Challengers Bangalore 1st 6 Overs – Over 46.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Coral
Back it here:
