The Indian Premier League heads back to Abu Dhabi on Wednesday for a match between the third and fourth placed sides as the Kolkata Knight Riders take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore in what is a big game for both teams.
Kolkata go into the match in fourth place and will be a sitting duck in that position with their terrible run rate if they lose while Bangalore might begin the day in third but could soon be looking over their shoulders if they don’t come out on top here.
Kolkata Knight Riders
The Kolkata Knight Riders moved up to fourth position with a Super Over win in their previous match but their net run rate remains terrible so they need to keep winning if they are going to hold on to that position, particularly with a couple of sides immediately below them in the table beginning to find their best cricket. You get the impression if the Knight Riders are to keep on winning then their bowlers are going to be important.
It took them an age to bring Lockie Ferguson into the side but he soon showed what the other teams are finding out in this tournament – that extreme pace is hard to handle. His five wicket haul was spectacular and needed because their batting order issues continue to plague the Knight Riders. It was ok earlier in the competition when a couple of players were in form but there aren’t many in their top four that are going that well now.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
The Royal Challengers Bangalore cemented their spot in the top four of the table with what ended up being an unlikely win against the Rajasthan Royals at the weekend and if you think eight wins and an acceptable run rate will be enough to qualify then a win here would mean they only need to come out on top in one of their last four matches to extend their campaign into the play-offs as they seek a maiden Indian Premier League title.
Bangalore have been grateful to a couple of extreme bursts of scoring from AB de Villiers in recent matches but that is what he is in the team for. Usually you would be concerned about them if he didn’t deliver the goods but the way their bowling attack has come on in the main renders those fears largely irrelevant. The only issue I could see on the horizon for the Royal Challengers is that their top four are doing so much batting that the others might lack time in the middle which could come back to haunt them.
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Key Men
Lockie Ferguson burst onto the scene in style at the weekend and you would imagine he will be held back until Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers are in to attempt to get rid of those cheaply and go some way to opening the game up for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
AB de Villiers has been the leading man for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in terms of taking their totals and getting them above something that they looked like getting and if he does that again here he’ll put his side well on the way to victory.
Betting
At 36.5 I think the boundaries line is a bit on the high side here. Admittedly these two batting orders are capable of piling up the boundaries but Kolkata Knight Riders aren’t exactly buzzing with the bat while the Royal Challengers Bangalore rely so much on their top four that if Kolkata get a couple of early wickets it could take their scoring rate right down. Even if they don’t it wouldn’t be the first time Virat Kohli has been obsessed with running twos and looking great over piling up a score. Both these bowling attacks are looking much more on it at the minute with the inclusions of key overseas players to the extent that when these two met in Sharjah this line wouldn’t have been covered. I’m not convinced it gets covered here either.
I’ve been waiting for Kolkata Knight Riders to get back to Abu Dhabi against a competent bowling attack so that I could have a bang on Pat Cummins to be their top batsman and at 40/1 in this match I’m certainly not shying away from that prospect. The last time KKR were here Cummins walloped 53* in 36 balls against an arguably better Mumbai Indians attack than the one he’ll face here, especially at the death of the innings. Crucially though Bangalore have bowlers to get stuck into the order early and with rumours growing that Andre Russell isn’t going to make it for this match a promotion up the order for the clean hitting Australian can’t be ruled out. Cummins’ scores on this ground this season read 33, 17*, 5* and 53*. With the Kolkata top four not really going anywhere that 40/1 is a big price.
Tips
WON – Back Under 36.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
Back P.Cummins Top Kolkata Knight Riders Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with William Hill
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