IPL Betting: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kolkata Knight Riders

Eoin Morgan could be Kolkata's key batsman

Thursday morning's match is a heavyweight affair between two teams that regularly make the IPL play-offs, pitching two West Indian World Cup heroes against one another. Paul Krishnamurty believes that conditions will favour Chris Gayle more than Sunil Narine... 

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders 

Start Time: BST (11:30)
TV: Live on ITV and itv.com

Royal Challengers Bangalore 

In their last match, we saw just how devastating this RCB batting line-up can be on their own ground. Despite their talisman Chris Gayle failing to make an impact, 162 was chased down with 14 balls to spare, leaving the impression that a score of 200 is well within their grasp at home. Regular opener Tillakaratne Dilshan was dropped for that game and, with Mayank Agarwal chipping in with a quickfire 29 off 20 balls, the Sri Lankan star may struggle to get his place back.

Kolkata Knight Riders 

The defending champions' two matches so far have yielded very contrasting results. First a comfortable home win over Delhi,  led by Sunil Narine's four wickets, followed by defeat away to Rajasthan after collapsing to 125 chasing just 145. There is enough batting strength in their squad to disregard last time as a blip and, with Eden Gardens becoming something of a fortress, Kolkata look a solid outright trade to win the IPL at 8.27/1 in expectation of a play-off spot.

First Innings Runs

156 remains the lowest first innings total in the last two seasons at the M A Chinnaswamy Stadium so we must expect another run-fest, especially on Tuesday's evidence. Now as then, however, choosing the best bet depends on the toss. If RCB bat first, I'll be backing them to score over 160 at around 2.01/1 and 4.57/2 on 180+. If Kolkata bat first, however, I'd be more wary and set my sights ten runs lower.

Match odds

This has all the hallmarks of a classic, with numerous individuals capable of transforming the match on their own. Both sides are packed with big-hitters, so it may help to bat second once the target is known. The decisive battle could be between Bangalore's batsman and Sunil Narine during the second half of their innings. RCB regularly slog huge totals at the death, Narine usually at least strangles opponent's scoring rate. On the basis that in-form spinner Amit Mishra went for 42 off his four overs in Tuesday's match here, Narine may be less effective than usual. For that reason, Bangalore are marginally preferred at 1.84/5.

Top Bangalore batsman

Virat Kohli's 93 off 47 balls against Hyderabad was a joy to watch and Indian cricket's rising star is well worth backing at 4.3100/30 to top-score for the third straight match. As usual with RCB, the chief threats are Chris Gayle and AB De Villiers, as one of that star trio tends to deliver, therefore setting an impossible target for later batsmen.
 
Top Kolkata batsman

The latter stages of innings at this ground tend to yield vast numbers of runs and boundaries meaning, in theory, middle-order sloggers have a better chance than usual of top-scoring. Eoin Morgan fits the bill perfectly and, after top-scoring in the last game, could still be overpriced at 6.05/1.

Recommended bet

Back Bangalore @ 1.84/5