IPL Betting: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunday's classic between these two sides went down to a Super Over

Less than 48 hours after needing a Super Over to separate them, RCB and Sunrisers Hyderabad lock horns in today's early game. Paul Krishnamurty reckons we're overdue a run-fest and this could be just the venue...

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Sunrisers Hyderabad 
Start Time: BST (11:30)
TV: Live on ITV and itv.com

Royal Challengers Bangalore 

In past IPLs, the narrative regarding Bangalore usually involved explosive batsmen hitting huge totals, tempered by a weak bowling attack that struggled to defend them. In their two matches so far, the situation has been reversed. On neither occasion did their total seem anywhere near enough, yet the bowlers fought hard to take both matches to the wire. That improvement from the bowlers should be seen as a positive because, whether they all do it on the same day or not, a line-up of Gayle, Dilshan, Kohli and, from now, AB De Villiers, will invariably deliver. 
 
Sunrisers Hyderabad

Despite being written off as rank outsiders, even now, at 17.5n/a in the outright market, Sunrisers are riding high with two wins from two matches. Serious doubts about their batting depth have not been resolved but Thisara Perera is a superb all-round addition. If Dale Steyn, Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra can retain their potency with the ball, they could continue to surprise and challenge for the play-offs.   

First Innings Runs

Surprisingly after eight matches, only two sides have reached 150. As that mark has been odds-on every single time, there is a temptation to conclude the market is over-estimating runs. That may prove the case over the course of the competition, but there will still be plenty of big totals and this game looks ideal. In the last nine matches at the M A Chinnaswamy Stadium, last week's 156 against Mumbai was the lowest, with 180 bettered four times during that period. If Bangalore bat first I'll be happy to take anything above 2.01/1 on 160+ and 4.57/2 on 180+. If Sunrisers bat first, take ten runs off those targets to take account of their weaker batting.
 
Match odds

Given that Sunday's match was tied and the fact Hyderabad have twice upset the odds so far, there is a clear case for backing the outsider here, at least as a trading vehicle, with a view towards laying back for profit if their odds shorten. Nevertheless, with home advantage on a pitch that seems to always yield big totals, Bangalore's all-star batting line-up have to be the tip, if not an especially confident bet at just 1.548/15.

Top Bangalore batsman

I expect at least one top-order Bangalore batsman to make a big total on their home ground, which would probably amount to a four-man contest if De Villiers plays. Gayle and Kohli have top-scored once each so perhaps today will be the turn of Tillakaratne Dilshan to shine at odds of 5.14/1. The Sri Lankan opener is under pressure after two failures, but he was in perfectly good form two weeks ago against Bangladesh so should come good at some point. These are big odds for a high-class opener. 
 
Top Hyderabad batsman

The two best Hyderabad batsman have failed to top-score in either match so far, but in the absence of their star opener Shikhar Darwan, it is hard to look beyond Kumar Sangakkara and Cameron White. They seem the only two liable to score a very big innings, which will be required from somebody at this ground. I'll take Sangakkara at 4.03/1.

Recommended bet

Back Bangalore to score over 160 runs or Sunrisers over 150 runs, depending who bats first