It is a big afternoon for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League on Friday as they look to get their first win of the season when they host the powerful Kolkata Knight Riders at the Chinnaswamy.
Defeat here would leave the Royal Challengers 0-5 for the season and would effectively render them competitively redundant. Kolkata have started the season well and a win here would put them in a nice position.
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Royal Challengers Bangalore
It continues to be a tale of woe for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. There is clearly a slump that set in last season and try as they might they are unable to shake it. There has been an issue with their bowling attack for quite some time. It is largely accepted though because the Chinnaswamy is a horrible place to bowl for bowlers but the issues are deeper than that now.
In an attempt to overcome the issue of a leaky attack, Bangalore play four overseas batsmen but when they don’t fire as a unit they are left high and dry, which is what happened in Jaipur last time out when only Marcus Stoinis of the quartet got himself in. They need to find some form as a batting unit or do something different to their bowling attack else this season will be a write off before it has got to the halfway stage.
Kolkata Knight Riders
There are no such problems for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Their batsmen are firing on all cylinders and putting up daunting scores with breath-taking power and brutality that this format was designed for. In an ideal world their bowlers would be a little tighter than they have been but this is an attack set up to flourish later in the campaign when the pitches are more spin friendly.
Unlike the other sides in the tournament, Kolkata have only played three matches so they are set for a busy little period from here on in but with two wins to their name already, and their only defeat coming in a super over, they have a good platform to build on and a week of strong showings could have them wonderfully placed for a tilt at the title.
Team News
Bangalore have to change something. Nathan Coulter-Nile is now not available until next weekend so it is either bring Tim Southee in with Shimron Hetmyer the most likely to make way or do something different with their batting line up.
Sunil Narine missed the defeat to Delhi last time out but he is expected to be available for this match and should come back in at the expense of Nikhil Naik who didn’t really do much to warrant staying in the team.
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Betting
As terrible as the Royal Challengers Bangalore have been so far this season I can’t take them on at the Chinnaswamy because no matter how bad they are, half a dozen overs of AB de Villiers on this ground and they have the potential to be a match for anyone. It isn’t like Kolkata’s bowling attack has been watertight this term either.
With that in mind, I’m predictably on the sixes in this match where a 15.5 line is attractive enough. Unless the wicket has had all the moisture sucked out of it, and with the home side loaded with overseas batting talent that would seem unlikely, then I’m expecting the ball to fly and the sixes to flow once again. We have Kohli, de Villiers, Stoinis, Ali, potentially Hetmyer, Lynn, Narine, Uthappa, Russell and plenty more going for us on these short boundaries. Over 15.5 sixes looks more than fair to me.
Tips
WON – Back Over 14.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Betfred
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