The second half of the double header in the Indian Premier League on Saturday sees the bottom two in the table meeting in what is a big match in Bangalore when the Royal Challengers Bangalore take on the Delhi Daredevils.
It almost goes without saying that a lot more was expected of both sides in this competition but a win in this one would still offer the chance to be competitive over the remainder of the season. The losers here will begin to swim against the tide which is never good.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
It is three defeats in four for the pre-tournament favourites and in truth but for a masterclass of an innings from AB de Villiers it could easily have been four defeats on the trot to start the campaign. When you think this season follows on from a competition where they won three of their 14 matches last term you have to think something has to give.
It needs a complete change of approach looking in as an outsider but you would have to be a pretty brave coach to rest Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers or Quinton de Kock but sometimes the balance of the side is more important than the personnel. Whichever way you look at it Bangalore rely too much on their top four and their bowling is not up to the standards required.
Delhi Daredevils
When Ricky Ponting was announced as the coach of the Delhi Daredevils and a fair bit of cash was spent on big name talent in the auction the good times were expected to come back to the Delhi Daredevils but that hasn’t been the case at all so far. There are mitigating circumstances of course. They lost a rain affected match where the DLS total looked skewwhiff and they are yet to play a home match but even so they should be looking better than they are.
I sense there is a frustration in their ranks too. The reason I say that is because Trent Boult aside their bowling has been abject and in the last game nobody batted for the team. They might have been chasing a monster score but nobody gave themselves a chance to build a partnership and they were severely beaten as a result.
Team News
Who knows how Royal Challengers Bangalore will line up. I think they have to change something. They need to find a way to get a death bowler into the side and if they can’t do that then they may as well play Moeen Ali or Colin de Grandhomme to strengthen their lower order.
Delhi Daredevils don’t have the amount of options that RCB have but I would be surprised if Dan Christian isn’t under consideration. Delhi need to shore things up in the first 10-12 overs or so which could see Liam Plunkett utilised in some way.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Betting
The weather around Bangalore is not making betting on this match terribly easy it must be said. I say that because there was rain around on the eve of the match and there is more forecast on match day so I’m not interested in getting into a battle with DLS on this ground.
In the hope that the rain slides down the side of the Chinnaswamy though I will have a bang on the sixes. A line of 14.5 sixes is not nearly enough to thwart these two big hitting sides and in fairness if the rain stays away in the first innings we might even have the bet in by them if someone like Glenn Maxwell, Jason Roy or AB de Villiers gets going. If we do get a full game in I expect to see at least 15 sixes here and the quicker we see them the better.
Tips
WON – Back Over 14.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.75 with 888sport
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2018
