RCB with pronlems of their own
Royal Challengers Bangalore had an incredible first half in IPL 2021, winning five of their seven matches but have started the second leg in UAE with back-to-back losses. It does not help that they run into Mumbai Indians next just when they were looking to resurrect their form. They have odds of 2.04 to beat Mumbai Indians.
Like RCB, Mumbai haven’t hit top gear and lost both their opening matches. However, unlike RCB, they do not have the cushion of a great first leg to rely upon. As such, Mumbai find themselves languishing in the bottom half of the table. They have odds of 1.76 to beat RCB, but won’t have it easy.
Mixed recent record suggests individual brilliance could be the difference
Overall, Mumbai Indians hold the edge in head to head records with 19 wins as against RCB’s 11. However, since 2018, the record is more even with RCB winning three and Mumbai four. Quite often, between two very good teams, the difference has been in individual brilliance with AB de Villiers, Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav all delivering crunching performances in recent times.
RECOMMENDED BET: RCB have the right ingredients in place to be title winners and despite their slow start and unfavorable odds of 2.04, should beat Mumbai Indians.
When these teams met earlier in the season, Harshal Patel took a five-wicket haul and AB de Villiers smashed a 27-ball 48 to win a close game for RCB.
Keep an eye on…
AB de Villiers: He has had a quiet start to the second leg, but against a team he favours, expect de Villiers to find his groove. His big challenge will be the left-arm spin of Krunal Pandya, a match up he doesn’t favour.
Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock: Mumbai’s openers have been solid this season and although they haven’t hit the headlines, the duo have got the job done. They might have to do it again to find success against RCB.
TIP: RCB openers are consolidators and are solid at the top. They have odds of 1.73 to register the higher score than Mumbai at fall of first wicket.
