IPL GAME 16: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews Thursday’s game 16 in the IPL between Royal Challengers Bangalore v Rajasthan Royals with a recommended BETDAQ bet.

MATCH OVERVIEW:

We’re back in Mumbai on Thursday for a cracker in the Indian Premier League as the Royal Challengers Bangalore take on the Rajasthan Royals. RCB are going for four from four today, and they will be confident of achieving that against a Rajasthan Royals side who have yet to have any luck in the tournament. Rajasthan would have had one eye on the games yesterday as all the teams around them were in action. They have had some very bad luck already with Archer not starting the tournament and then losing Ben Stokes.

They also scored 217/7 against Punjab Kings but they lost by four runs as they conceded 221/6. They collapsed against CSK in their last game, and that probably highlights a major issue for them – their middle order. Without Stokes that has left a huge hole, even if he did bat higher up the order. There’s a lot of pressure on Joe Buttler to perform now but he can’t do it all on his own. He will need help from David Miller, but he doesn’t score big that often.

RCB have started the tournament on fire, but it’s been the same old question for them – can their stars fire? Maxwell and de Villiers absolutely stole the show against KKR putting up a score of over 200 at Chennai, but the bowlers won the day against Sunrisers Hyderabad. With Mumbai losing to Delhi on Tuesday, RCB will believe they could top the table this year. Many cricket fans will doubt that, but they will believe!

WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:

We have already had a lot of changing conditions at Mumbai, so the best advice anyone can give you is to go into each game with an open mind. A lot depends on the pitch, and if you see that green wicket again then expect a lot of movement with the new ball. We could easily see a big score again however, as aside from that green pitch batting has been pretty easy here. CSK showed how to defend a score against Rajasthan Royals however, and the other teams might try to follow that blueprint – that being said, Rajasthan collapsed. Regardless of the score, I would definitely bowl first – if it moves around you can win the game and if not, then chasing should be OK given the good record here.

RECOMMENDED BET:

We landed a nice bet on Rajasthan Royals in their win over Delhi Capitals at good odds, but RCB are in much better form than Delhi and I’m not really keen on backing Rajasthan today. The 1.7 on RCB looks about right and I’m happy to look elsewhere with the match odds looking very fair. The bet that stands out for me is RCB most sixes at 1.8. Apart from Jos Buttler, RCB have a lot more six hitting options and conditions should suit the likes of Maxwell and de Villiers – plus you have the added bonus of Kohli too who is due a big score. Rajasthan have six hitters too of course, but RCB are full of confidence and look in good touch.

The Edge Says:
Two points win Royal Challengers Bangalore Most Sixes at 1.8 with BETDAQ Betting Exchange

View the market here -> http://bit.ly/BDQRcbRja

IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:

There are some huge wickets in this game, and we could see a lot of big swings in-running on BETDAQ Betting Exchange. The three key wickets for RCB are obvious – Kohli, Maxwell and de Villiers and if they don’t score then they don’t win. It’s as simple as that, when you look at their line-up those three simply have to fire, and RCB are lucky that happens more often than not. You get the feeling Maxwell will be key for them as he looks in great form, but if Maxwell and de Villiers go early then I’d be keen to get against their low order as I can’t see them finishing well without their stars.

The same applies to Rajasthan Royals to be honest, as a lot depends on Joe Buttler and David Miller. I’m keen to support Buttler as he looks in great form, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Rajasthan collapse a few times in this IPL. I would be very keen to get against Rajasthan when Buttler is out, scoring will either slow down or we could see another wicket soon after. This game seems all about picking your spots with the key players doing well and the others worth going against.