It took a while but the Royal Challengers Bangalore have finally got into full stride in the current Indian Premier League season and on Wednesday they will be looking for that to continue when they take on the Kings XI Punjab in their final home match of the season.
Things haven’t gone anywhere near to plan for the Punjab side and they have been eliminated from the tournament for a while now but we finally saw Pune free up and play some proper cricket earlier in the week and all involved in the Kings XI set up will hope they can do the same now.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Although the Royal Challengers have clicked into gear really it would be only right to honour the fact that they have rode the extraordinary form of two batsmen, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, who are in the form of their lives and are setting unprecedented records both for this tournament and this format of the game.
Although it hasn’t won them a match yet the much vaunted Bangalore bowling attack has at least started to contribute, helped no end by the return to form of Chris Jordan who is proving as hard as ever to get away in the death overs and who is taking wickets before then too.
Kings XI Punjab
It has been a season of upheaval, inconsistency and abject disappointment for the Kings XI side. When their bowlers have kept opponents to low totals their batsmen have let them down and on the few occasions they have put scores together their bowlers have been carted. That isn’t a good combination.
I’m sure Punjab will be eager not to finish bottom of the pile again so that might give them some motivation, as could the hurt and pain of a narrow one run defeat in the reverse meeting between these two sides when they did actually play well.
Team news
Chris Gayle finally came good in the last match so all should be well with the world again and as such it would be a surprise if Bangalore are not unchanged for this match unless they suffer a last minute injury.
Kings XI will be forced into changes because injuries to Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis have ended their seasons and they are off back to Australia. That should mean Farhaan Behardien comes back into the side and there might now be room for Kyle Abbott as well.
Form
Royal Challengers Bangalore: WLLWLLLWWLWW
Kings XI Punjab: LLWLLLWLWLWL
Head to head: Royal Challengers Bangalore 7-10 Kings XI Punjab
In Bangalore: Royal Challengers Bangalore 3-4 Kings XI Punjab
M Chinnaswamy Stadium
Apart from one match every game on this ground has been high scoring, none more so than the last game here where Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers belted a number of runs in what was a batting masterclass.
I’m expecting similar here. We can’t expect the fireworks we got in the last match but Kings XI’s bowling just took an almighty beating and Bangalore can’t really bowl consistently so on a tiny ground it is hard to see this not being a high scoring match in some way.
Betting
With all the injuries, the lack of motivation and the fact their bowling has just been caned it is hard to drum up much enthusiasm about the Kings XI here but there was only one run between the two when last they met so Bangalore are plenty short enough on that evidence. Throw in the fact I hate taking match outcomes before the toss here and there is enough reason to leave the match alone.
Usually I would look at the sixes here but there has to be the potential for the Kings XI to go a bit flat without Stoinis and Maxwell and a line around 17 will need both sides contributing. Of course if the last match is anything to go by then Bangalore could cover it on their own but that isn’t going to happen too often.
Instead I’ll look at the performance markets where AB de Villiers’ line looks a little on the low side to me at 33. The South African has scored five 50s and a century in this tournament so far in just 12 innings so half the time he has batted he has made at least 50.
His last four innings have seen him score 64, 24, 129* and 59* and the time he scored 24 he took two catches so he covered his performance that day too. If that isn’t enough the last twice he has faced the Kings XI here he has scored 53 and 47.
He notched 64 in the reverse meeting between these two so that 33 is perfectly achievable and the best thing is if he falls a touch short he can make up the number with catches, of which he has taken five in the last three matches.
Tips
VOID – Back AB de Villiers’ Performance Pts – 33&Over for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
Back it here:
