Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to add the final nail in Deccan Chargers’ coffin this season, when the two sides meet at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in the 40th game of the IPL.
The Royal Challengers possess a batting line-up to gawk at in envy, and a bowling that suits the pitches in Bangalore, which means that the side will go into the game as favourites; justifying the odds of 4/6 (Blue Square) offered. The Chargers, on the other hand, need to win every game from here to survive in the tournament and Totesports offers 7/5 for their win.
The Deccan Chargers batting seems to have gone for a toss. Adam Gilchrist (3/1 at Ladbrokes to top-score for his side) may have played a cameo in the previous game against Rajasthan, but his form has generally been ordinary, while Andrew Symonds (4/1 at Blue Square to top-score for the Chargers) has struggled to put bat to ball. Herschelle Gibbs (4/1 at Sky Bet to be the best batsman for his side) was replaced in the previous game by Dwayne Smith, but to expect Smith to immediately take up the gauntlet would be expecting a tad too much.
It will need Gilly along with Rohit Sharma (9/2 at Boylesports to be the best batsman for DC) to bat extremely well at the top and the middle of the innings for them to pose any challenge to the strong-looking Bangalore side. How Sharma overcomes the embarrassment behind his baffling decision to play that stroke in the final over of the Rajasthan game, will need to be seen in the Bangalore game.
With Jacques Kallis (9/4 at Boylesports to be the best batsman for the Bangalore team) continuing to quietly nudge away at the top of the innings to another half century, the side may look at bringing Dale Steyn back into the playing eleven in place of Cameron White (5/1 at Sky Bet to top-score for Bangalore). That will also mean that Manish Pandey (5/1 at Ladbrokes to top-score for Bangalore) may need to be brought back and in all probabilities, an Indian bowler in Abhimanyu Mithun, Vinay Kumar or Appanna may go out.
But, to me, the man to watch out for is Robin Uthappa (6/1 at Ladbrokes to be the best for his side), who has played a couple of glorious innings in the tournament so far. Time for him to get going with his third smacking knock, something that he would be itching to get for some time now.
Tips:
Favourites: Deccan Chargers (7/5 at Totesports)
Top Deccan batsman: Adam Gilchrist (3/1 at Ladbrokes)
Top Bangalore batsman: Robin Uthappa (6/1 at Ladbrokes)