The two biggest names in the Indian Premier League meet on Tuesday in a hugely important mouthwatering clash in Mumbai as the Mumbai Indians take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede Stadium.
It is fair to say that both these teams have struggled so far this term and are in need of a kick start to their campaigns. One of them will get it here but the losers will be up against it even this early in the piece so this is one of the biggest matches in the tournament so far.
Mumbai Indians
The usual slow start to the season for the Mumbai Indians has returned and while this is not new territory for the defending champions we are hitting the point where it is becoming a big issue. A defeat here would see them with four defeats in a row and with eight wins usually needed for the postseason it would leave them needing to win eight of their last 10 matches.
The big problem for Mumbai has been with the bat. They have struggled to put up totals and you always know when there is a problem with a side because invariably they will change their batting order and play players out of position. Ironically that worked in the previous match and then they found their bowlers couldn’t get the job done. It is fair to say the Indians have issues to resolve.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
It hasn’t really been a much better start for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. They are slightly better off in that they have won one of their first three matches but in truth they made heavy work of winning that so they could easily be winless going into this one which is unthinkable with the power they have up front.
You get the feeling the only way Bangalore are going to win a match this season is if they are chasing and even then you are probably only 50/50 about that because they rely so much on their top four it is untrue. When you load your side with three overseas batsmen in the top four you don’t leave many other options and given the status of the three it is hard to see any of them being dropped.
Team News
Mustafizur had such a mare in the last match that you wonder if it is time for Mitchell McClenaghan again. It could be that Mumbai pick JP Duminy for him and get the Pandya’s to bowl full quotas.
Royal Challengers Bangalore have fewer options unless they split up their much vaunted top four which seems unlikely. Their only other overseas player is Chris Woakes and he has been running quite well so far.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Betting
I mentioned on Monday how I didn’t trust either side to defend a score and while it turned out that Kolkata Knight Riders were perfectly capable of doing it I have even less faith in either of these two defending the Wankhede. If I was pushed I’d back the Mumbai Indians as I really don’t rate Bangalore much but better bets lie in the side markets.
The obvious market, and the one I’m going to attack, is the sixes market where we have a line of 14.5 for this match. That has already been covered twice with totals of 15 and 17 in the two matches here so far this season and I expect it to be covered again. Both sides have hitters in their ranks with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, the two Pandya’s, McCullum, de Kock, Kohli, de Villiers and others all batting for us I’m expecting to see at least 15 sixes on a relatively small ground where the wicket is always good for batting.
Tips
WON – Back Over 14.5 sixes for a 5/10 stake at 1.75 with LeoVegas
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2018
