We head to Bangalore for the first time in the new Indian Premier League season on Thursday when the Royal Challlengers Bangalore host the Mumbai Indians in a battle between two sides notorious for poor starts to a campaign.
It appears they are looking to follow suit this year too because both lost their opening match so whoever loses this one will be under early pressure, although that is nothing new for either of these outfits.
Sign up to Coral and get £30 in free bets when you bet £10! Perfect for the huge amount of sport! Click the image above to join. New customers only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
I would imagine the Royal Challengers would have been eager to get this tournament underway to prove that they are better than what they showed last term but all those plans went to pot when the Chepauk groundsman rolled out an absolute monster of a track that even the best cricketers in the world couldn’t have done anything with.
That all means they will be pleased to be back at home where the Chinnaswamy wicket looks in good order and where they can showcase their talents and lay down their credentials for the season to come. As ever with Bangalore, all eyes will be on their bowling attack to see how they go in light of the fact that it is that department which usually lets them down. There looks to be a lot of runs in their batting as ever.
Mumbai Indians
You could be forgiven for wondering why the Mumbai Indians bother to turn up for the first half of this competition because they always stink the place out in it before the penny drops and they race home with a late burst of wins. They were never beating Delhi in their opening match but Rishabh Pant just made sure of it and already this campaign has a feel of the previous ones about it.
The Mumbai Indians tend to be the other way to the Royal Challengers. Usually their bowling attack goes alright from the off but their batsmen take an eternity to get going but they didn’t really bowl all that well in the first game, which will have a few concerns beginning to grow already. They can relax a little in this match with nothing to lose but an early win to settle everyone down would be welcome I’m sure.
Team News
Royal Challengers Bangalore may not change a whole lot from their opening match purely because I doubt anyone will be judging them on that so they are unlikely to make any rash decisions based on it either. Tim Southee could be one to come in though.
Mumbai Indians had a big scare in their opening match when Jasprit Bumrah went down on his shoulder in the field and the fact he didn’t come out to bat had people fearing the worst. He was bowling in the nets on the eve of the match though so he’s fine. Lasith Malinga has now been made available but won’t be considered until the weekend.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Betting
Where do you start trying to pick the winner between these two? Both are ordinary at best at the start of the season and at the Chinnaswamy you wouldn’t want to be on the side batting first. Usually you could say the outsiders are value but with most firms it is pick ‘em each of two so that doesn’t really help us a great deal either.
As it is I’m not going to risk that and instead I’ll revisit the sixes market which served me so well on Wednesday. The line here is 16.5 which is roughly where it should have been on Wednesday but I’m still not convinced it is high enough. We have some big hitters of a cricket ball on display here with Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Moeen Ali, Colin de Grandhomme, Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, Yuvraj Singh and Kieron Pollard among others all on our side. You wouldn’t say either of these bowling attacks are much cop and the ground is absolutely tiny and dew is set to play a part. That all points to a bucket load more sixes and although the line looks high at 16.5, I don’t think it is high enough.
Tips
WON – Back Over 16.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Betfred
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019
