THE EDGE: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews Thursday’s IPL clash between Kolkata Knight Riders v Royal Challengers Bangalore with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
MATCH OVERVIEW:
The IPL hits Eden Gardens for the first time this season on Thursday afternoon as Kolkata Knight Riders meet Royal Challengers Bangalore on BETDAQ Betting Exchange. The news in the build-up of this game has mainly focused on bad news for both sides. KKR captain Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out for the whole IPL with a back injury, while a lesser blow but still a blow, Rajat Patidar has been ruled out for RCB. He caught plenty of eyes at the IPL last season, and it’s very unfortunate he wasn’t able to build on that.
RCB got off to a winning start in the perfect fashion with a smooth win over Mumbai Indians. Virat Kohli scored 82 not out with Faf du Plessis scoring 73 – those two will have to have great tournaments if RCB are going to make the playoffs. Glenn Maxwell got a small bat in the middle to finish the game as well, and they chased 171/7 in just 16.2 overs. It should be said however that the 171/7 was a poor batting performance in Bangalore – but the RCB bowlers did very well to keep Mumbai to that score.
KKR suffered a first game defeat against Punjab where nothing went right. They will be hoping for a change in fortune now they are back at home – they conceded 191/5 and then managed 146/7 off 16 overs to lose on DLS. The margin of the loss wasn’t big, and on paper their bowlers can surely improve. I would also suggest they need to bat Andre Russell up the order! Another interesting IPL game ahead!
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
Most of the IPL was held in Mumbai last season, and prior to that we had the seasons outside India too in the UAE. The result is we haven’t had much IPL cricket here, but in general over the last number of years Kolkata has become a high scoring venue. Although we didn’t have any group games here last season, we did have two games for the Qualifiers. The first inning scores were 188/6 (chased) and 207/4 (won). The losing team also posted 193/6, so I would expect good scoring conditions here and plenty of sixes. That has been the trend in the last few years, I wouldn’t change my opinion unless we see an obvious change in conditions.
RECOMMENDED BET:
We have a lot of batting talent on display here, and we have short boundaries with expected good batting conditions. We should have a cracking game! RCB had very similar conditions in their opening game, which they won easily. KKR have to make some changes in my opinion, especially batting Russell higher in the order – it will be interesting to see what they do with him! I feel we’ll have a close game here, and conditions could decide the winner too. If we get a heavy dew, chasing will be a massive advantage. I’m keen to keep stakes small before the off, and I’m going to play the value too. KKR are trading 2.3, and I’d have this game closer to 50/50 so a small bet at the odds is in order.
The Edge Says:
One point win Kolkata Knight Riders to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore at 2.3 with Betdaq Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/KkrRcb
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
As I said above, I’d expect very good batting conditions here but because we haven’t had a lot of IPL cricket here recently, just make sure to confirm conditions in the opening overs. After that, if conditions are as expected, I would definitely focus on looking for trades on the batting side rather than the bowling side. We can see plenty of sixes here – you’d imagine Andre Russell will go well with these short ropes! If there is a dew, then I would angle my trades towards the team batting second. It wouldn’t be surprise to see 200 chased down here to be honest.
