Indian Premier League - IPL / Andrew Hughes / 08 April 2010 /

One time certainties for a semi-final place, the Royal Challengers have lost four of their last five and are in serious danger of missing out. They will hope to get things back on track against an inconsistent but dangerous Kolkata. Andrew Hughes tells us more

Venue and Conditions

The M.Chinnaswamy Stadium has been one of the better surfaces for bowlers in this tournament and even though it looks a little drier now, there is still bounce and seam movement on offer for the quicker bowlers, as well as hint of swing.

Team News

Kevin Pietersen has missed two games and may get a recall, at the expense of Cameron White or Ross Taylor. Bangalore have limited room for manoeuvre besides this and there appears no chance of Mark Boucher or Roelof van der Merwe getting a game any time soon.

Kolkata dropped Shane Bond for their last match against Delhi, but the pitch in Bangalore is likely to be much more to his liking and he should return, probably at the expense of Ajantha Mendis.

Match Odds

The arrival of Pietersen, White and Taylor, whilst strengthening the Bangalore squad, has upset what was a successful line-up and they are now struggling to come up with the right combinations. Four defeats in five sounds bad, though to be fair, they have not looked like a team in freefall and you would have to assume that sooner or later they are going to get back on track.

But whilst the men probably deserve to be favourites for this game, odds of [1.61] look rather short and it could pay to side with the visitors. Kolkata blow hot and cold, but they have taken on some of their captain's fighting spirit and look a balanced unit. In Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle and Shane Bond, they have proven match winners and at [2.4] the Knight Riders are the value selection.

Top Batsman

Jacques Kallis continues to reward his followers in the top batsman market and as the only batsman certain of selection, he is still worth backing at around [3.25]

For Kolkata, Gayle is always worth a look at [3.5] or so, but his equally destructive opening partner McCullum could be as high as [4.5] and rates a good bet at those odds.

Featured Market

Robin Uthappa can be brilliant, but usually isn't and it makes sense to back Kallis in the 'Uthappa v Kallis' market at [1.7] or better.

Trivia

Kolkata have beaten Bangalore on each of the three occasions that they have faced one another on Indian soil.

Andrew Hughes says Back Kolkata to beat Bangalore at [2.4]

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