The Monday offering in the Indian Premier League sees two of the many sides on two points for the competition in action when the Royal Challengers Bangalore take on the defending champions Mumbai Indians in Dubai.
It has been a mixed start for both these teams so the win here will be keenly sought after. With the quality of the personnel in the ranks of these two sides we should be treated to an entertaining game of cricket despite the importance.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
It doesn’t seem to matter whether they are playing in Bangalore or the UAE, the Royal Challengers seem to encounter the same problems. They have the best top four in the competition in terms of name and profile but should one or two of them not fire then they are soon exposed and we saw that last time out against the Kings XI Punjab when they took an almighty beating. In truth they were extremely fortunate to win their first match so it is clear that Bangalore have problems.
The big issues for Bangalore is there is nobody to really finish a batting innings off, or at least there hasn’t been so far in the competition, and their death bowling is awful. That has been a trend for many seasons and it has largely been put down to the fact their home matches are on a ground that is impossible defend. It quite clearly isn’t that and they need to come up with better plans either with the personnel they are using or by bringing other players in to do the job.
Mumbai Indians
The defending champions got their title defence off to a slow start when they were defeated by the Chennai Super Kings in the first match of the tournament but they picked up speed in the second one and will be looking for a repeat of their fine win over the Kolkata Knight Riders. In that match their batting came to the fore and they put up a total that a bowling attack of their quality should have had no problem defending.
I still have concerns over Mumbai using Hardik Pandya at six in their order but to be fair to him his cameos have been full of clean hitting and of use to the side. Whether that can continue when the pitches get tired is another thing but for now it isn’t necessarily the worst move, especially if their top order have laid the platform for him to deliver the goods from. One thing we do know is their bowling attack is hard to get after with quality seamers up top and useful spinners in the middle overs.
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Key Men
Royal Challengers Bangalore need Virat Kohli to come to the party and quickly. He has 15 runs from the opening two matches of the tournament and he needs a score as much as his team need him to have one. If he can tame this Mumbai attack it will certainly help.
Early wickets are the key to success against this Royal Challengers Bangalore side so Trent Boult is going to be a big player for the Mumbai Indians. If he can nick a couple off in the powerplay then the door will be more than ajar for the Indians.
Betting
It is hard to go against the Mumbai Indians here even at 8/11. We might not get rich from backing them but they should win and winners are winners at the end of the day. Had it not been for a stunning collapse from the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their opening match, Bangalore would be in a familiar position of no wins from two matches and in truth they would barely have competed in either save for the opening 10 overs against Hyderabad.
Mumbai Indians looked like they needed a game to get going in the tournament and with their key players mostly Indians who hadn’t played for the better part of six months, and overseas players who were no better when it came to activity in the main, we can allow them their slow start to the season. They looked much better in the second game and should look even better here too. There is still a lot more to come from the Mumbai side and if it comes out here they should have few problems winning this one.
Tips
Back Mumbai Indians to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with 888sport
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