The Rajasthan Royals have had an amazing start to the 2020 IPL and at the time of writing sit second in the league table. They set a new IPL batting record in their last match and will be brimming with confidence going into this game. Knight Riders have had a more mixed start with a thrashing by the Mumbai Indians followed by a comfortable win against the poor Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Here is what you will find in our preview –
Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders IPL betting tips.
Latest Odds & Form
Odds correct at time of writing & subject to change.
To win the match odds*
- Rajasthan Royals 1/1
- Kolkata Knight Riders 8/11
I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the Royals at 1/1 (even money). This looks excellent value to me and will be included in my betting tips for this match. I personally would have had the odds the other way round!
Rajasthan Royals form
What a game last time! After being set 223 to win the match it looks all but over for the Royals, as they would need to break the IPL record for the biggest winning run chase to win. They started nice and steadily with runs coming quickly and wickets not falling.
Steve Smith knocked a quick 50 of 27 balls to get things moving but it was the performance of Sanju Samson that got the win on the way. After an impressive inning in the first match, Samson was in fine form hitting 85 with a strike rate of 202.38 – including 7 sixes along the way. He was well supported by Rahul Tewatia with 53 from 31, who hit 5 sixes in one over.
Jofra Archer came in when a couple of wickets had fallen and carried on with his big-hitting from the first game brutally hitting 13 from 3 balls (a 433.33 strike rate!). The match was won with 3 balls to spare – a match that will be remembered for a long time!
What was worrying for the Royals was the performance of the bowlers. Only Rajpoot and Curran managed a wicket and only Rajpoot had economy figures of under 10 (9.75). Whilst it is worth noting the fine performance of KL Rahul and Argawal the bowlers did not seem to know what to do against them. Archer was particularly disappointing with 0/44 from his 4. (You can see the astonishing RR v KXIP stats here)
Here is the dressing room report from the Royals Twitter –
Straight from the dressing room, into your hearts. đ
đĨ – Reactions post THAT chase. #RRvKXIP | #HallaBol | #IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/ySb3SLCfWG
â Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) September 28, 2020
Top batsman so far – Sanju Samson 159
Top bowler so far – Rahul Tewatia 3
Kolkata Knight Riders form
The Knight Riders sit on 1 win from their two games which was in the last match against the Sunrisers. This was quite a comfortable win. The Sunrisers batted first and although they didn’t lose too many wickets they could not get going with the bat and only managed to post 142/4 from 20. Pat Cummings showed his experience with the ball finishing with figures of 19/1.
With the bat, they started poorly with Sunil  Narine out for a duck from the bowling of Khaleel Ahmed. With a low score to chase, they did the right thing and just kept the runs going. Shubman Gill got a stead 70 from 62 balls. Eoin Morgan came in to help finish things off with 42 from 29 to get the win with 2 overs to spare (As we predicted at the break on Twitter – @cricketicsindia)
In the first game, they lost to the Indians who clocked up 195 runs. The bowlers again only took 4 wickets and failed to keep the runs down this time. With the bat, the Knight Riders could not get going and ended up with 146/9.
Top batsman so far – Shubman Gill 77
Top bowler so far – Shivam Mavi 2 wickets
Top team batsman odds*
Who will be the top batsman for the team?
RR top Batsmen latest odds
- S Smith 15/8
- J Buttler 9/4
- S Samson 11/4
- Y Jaiswal 4/1
- R Uthappa 11/2
- D Miller 15/2
- R Tewatia 9/1
- Others 14/1+
It’s hard to pick between the top three in this market. Could Samson be the top batsman again? Possibly in the form, he is in.
KKR top batsman odds
- D Karthik 11/4
- S Gill 100/30
- T Banton 7/2
- A Russell 4/1
- N Rana 4/1
- E Morgan 9/2
- S Narine 9/2
- Others 11/2+
Its got to be time for Tom Banton to get his first IPL2020 game under his belt. If he starts the odds on offer at 7/2 looks good value.
To hit a six odds*
This market is for over 0.5 player sixes, there is also an under 0.5 sixes market.
Latest odds*
- J Buttler 1/2
- S Smith 10/11
- S Gill 5/4
- E Morgan 8/11
Mixed odds here with Buttler way too low to back for us!
*Odds were correct at the time of writing and subject to change at any time. Check the bookmaker’s site for the latest odds.
Betting Tips
4 tips for today’s game.
Tip 1 – 1xBet – Royals win 1/1
As mentioned above this is a fantastic bet. After the high of their last match, we are expecting the Royals to be flying here.
Tip 2 – S Smith over 0.5 sixes 10/11
Solid Steve is in good form and gets better odds here as he’s not considered as an “explosive player” in the same ilk as Bairstow. He’s Mr dependable but usually gets a couple of sixes in his innings. He’s been batting well so far and looks to be in a mature place now in his career where he knows his game well.
Tip 3 – Betway – Banton top KKR batsman 7/2 – If starts
Banton is expected to start here and has the potential to set the tournament alight for KKR with his batting. Has played plenty of cricket over the summer with England so should not have a problem getting going.
Tip 4 – 22bet – Samson top RR batsman 11/4
Samson has been on fire since the tournament started and we have been having a look into what is behind this form. Over the lockdown period, he has been preparing himself mentally and physically focusing on the IPL. He for a time became a Vegan and although this has changed he is now a vegetarian. He has had a clear plan for how to be at his peak for this tournament and it is now paying off.
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