Saturday 3rd October sees the first doubleheader in this years IPL. The early start is between the Royal Challengesre Bangalore and the Rajasthan Royals. This is an intriguing fixture with both teams having two wins from their first three matches with the Royals above based on their higher net run rate.
Latest betting odds*
- Royal Challengers Bangalore 4/5
- Rajasthan Royals 1/1
This is a close one to call and all the betting sites we’ve check are at around the same odds. RCB is the favourites due to their standing and reputation but the Royals have started the IPL in good form, better than most expected.
*Correct at time of writing and subject to change.
RCB v RR Betting Tips
Tip 1 – Rajasthan Royals to win 1/1 odds*
Although the Royals were a little underwhelming last time out they have started this years IPL in blistering fashion with the bat. In two of the three games, they have posted over 200 runs and they have chased down a new IPL record, 223, in their second game. Sanju Samson and Steve Smith both sit in the top 10 batsmen so far. Samson is also leading the way for most sixes with 16 after three matches, five more than any other player so far!
What impressed us most about the Royals was the performance against the Chennai Super Kings. In this match, CSK were the strong favourites coming off the back of beating the Mumbai Indians in their opening game.
CSK won the toss and chose to bowl first. This looked like it would pay off with the wicket of Jaiswal falling. Then came Samson. He was absolutely on fire hitting 74 off just 32 balls. The innings ended with an inspired Jofra Archer smashing 4 sixes in 8 balls to get the total to 216/7. This was a really impressive performance from the batsmen and caught our eye.
With the ball, they did a reasonable job of taking enough wickets to keep the pressure on and other than Faf du Plessis no one really made a score of note.
Next game along they were set 224 to win by KXIP. With Samson batting well again they chased it down with 3 balls to spare, another impressive performance with the bat.
The last match there was a dip in their performance, after the highs of the last run chase it looked like they could feel the pressure on them. KKR were kept to a very reasonable 175/6 which looked very achievable on the wicket. The performance of Jofra Archer with the ball was notable. He seemed to be a little off his line and length in the first two matches but was absolutely on his game this time finishing with figures of 18/2 from his four. It was a masterclass of fast bowling from the Englishman.
With the bat, Tom Curran performed well getting 54 from 36 balls but he was on his own there. Only two other players got into double figures as the stumbled to 137/9 from 20. He picked up the dream11, game-changer of the match (video here)
Whilst RCB has the same two wins so far they’ve not really got into a good stride from watching them. First match out they beat the Sunrisers but they only posted 164 to win. Their bowling was good that day getting them all out for 153, but there was nothing to inspire us against a generally poor SRH.
Next time out they got a thumping from Kings XI Punjab. Bowling first they were set 207 to win but were all out for 107, the lowest total of any innings in so far this year.
We are happy to back the Rajasthan Royals for the win here at odds of 1/1. A ₹1,000 bet on the Royals to win with 22bet would return ₹1,000 winnings and your ₹1,000 stake back. Join 22bet here for an up to ₹10,000 bonus.
Tip 2 – Over 326.5 total runs in the match 5/6*
This bet caught my eye for our tips. This takes the score of both teams as a total for the match runs and we need at least 327 to win this bet at just under evens.
So far two of three of the Royals games have gone over 400 runs in total. Last time out RCB v MI also went over 400 runs. With the batting we have seen from the Royals when they hit their stride we think this looks a good value bet to take for this match.
Top 3 – Finch to score more than Kohli 11/10*
Virat Kohli is a world-class cricketer and a true hero of Indian cricket. We love Kohli at Cricketics. But, he is having an absolute stinker at this years IPL. He’s looked so out of touch it has been a major surprise to everyone watching. He looks like a man playing under extreme pressure to perform as the RCB captain and although he has the potential we are not sure when he turns this dip in form round.
We need to wait to make sure Finch plays before backing this bet.
*Odds correct at time of writing, please only bet what you can afford to lose.
Follow us on twitter @cricketicsindia to keep up to date with how we get on and when more tips are posted!
Next match – DC v KKR betting tips