IPL Betting: Bangalore Royal Challengers Vs Kings XI Punjab

Find Me A 100 Winner / Frank Gregan / 30 April 2009 / Leave a Comment

Bangalore have been disappointing so far, but Frank Gregan can see an unlikely win happening on Friday. Bet: Back Bangalore at [2.3] or better.

Team News
Bangalore will be without skipper Kevin Pietersen who has returned to England to prepare for the first test against the West Indies. Ironically, he will probably be missed for his bowling having only averaged 15.5 with the bat. Jacques Kallis was supposed to take over as captain but with bowling figures of 1-135 off 11 overs the management are considering their options. Rahul Dravid is missing on paternity leave and a return in time to play seems unlikely. Mark Boucher is in cracking form and steered Bangalore home on Wednesday for a much needed win against Kolkata. Punjab hope to have Sri Lankan fast bowler Nuwan Kulasekara called up as a replacement for the injured Australian Shaun Marsh in the side but will be missing Ravi Bopara who will be on the plane with Pietersen after having claimed the No 3 spot in England's test side. Punjab go into the match on a high having defended a low total against Mumbai on Wednesday.

Venue, pitch and Conditions
Durban plays host to this game and the average score of the team batting first on Wednesday at Kingsmead was 129. The day-nighter saw the Kings XI post 119 on this track and that looked a surprisingly low score until Mumbai failed to chase it down. This game is also the later start so a low scoring affair may once again be in the offing on a pitch that is normally thought to favour the batsman.

Match Odds
Bangalore have been disappointing thus far whilst Punjab will be very pleased with the way things are going. However, this is going to be a much tighter game than the market would have us believe and a match at [2.3] should be available on Bangalore in what is likely to be an even contest.

Featured Market
Tight games lead to fraught decisions and cool heads don't prevail. Any odds in the region of [2.0] should be snapped up on there being more than 1.5 run outs in the Total Match Run Outs market.