Three Bangalore bets that can land you big bucks versus Punjab
Kohli and ABDv have done well for RCB in IPL 2020
|IPL website
With five wins after seven games, Royal Challengers Bangalore have taken everyone by surprise with their consistent performances in the tournament. In Match 31, they lock horns with KXIP, who are having a horrible run but did trump Kohli's side when last time these two sides met each other.
RCB's top batsman- Virat Kohli @2.8
With 256 runs at 64, Virat Kohli is the leading run-getter for RCB and the sixth highest run-scorer in the IPL 2020. Last game, it was the AB de Villiers show with Kohli playing a sidekick. The fact that he didn't get much strike in final five overs, he couldn't accelerate his innings as he did against CSK. But the RCB skipper is in fine form and has notched up scores of 33*, 90*, 43, 72* in his last four innings. Playing for the first time in Sharjah this year, Kohli took time to assess the conditions but now that he knows how it's like batting there, he should plan his innings better and given the red-hot form of his, and the reliability factor that is attached to this modern-day master, it shouldn't surprise anyone if he trumps everyone and comes out as the top batsman for RCB against KL Rahul's men. Kohli averages a whopping 113 in Sharjah.
AB de Villiers runs over 29.5 @1.83
At times, it's hard to decipher for analysts how AB de Villiers can out bat geniuses like Virat Kohli, who's not only at the peak of his powers but also an active cricketer, for someone like AB, who announced retirement from international cricket in May 2018. But that's the way AB de Villiers has been as a batsman, a sheer genius meant to do special things. After the last game, where he wrecked havoc in the KKR camp and blasted 73 off 33, he should cross the 29-run-mark in the game against Punjab. Also, de Villiers has a knack of doing an excellent job against the Kings as he averages 50.57 versus them and strikes at 160.54, which are magnificent numbers. He has seven fifties against them in 20 innings. At Sharjah Cricket Stadium, the Proteas legend averages 84 and given his current form, which has seen him make three fifties in seven outings, this IPL, ABDv should come good in this encounter.Â
For someone making his IPL debut and opening alongside Aaron Finch, one of the most dominating T20 batsmen, to have overshadowed the Aussie white-ball skipper, Devdutt Padikkal has sparkled like a shining superstar. He is the ninth leading-run-getter this season with 243 runs at 34.71 and been a great addition to the RCB unit, even making more runs than AB de Villiers, thus far. Some of the shots that he has played have been outrageous, I mean which 20-year-old walks down the track when pitted against the express pace of Pat Cummins and comes out as victor hitting two brilliant boundaries like he did last game? He's impressive and also quite consistent and in the last game, also showed some good intent. In seven matches so far, the southpaw has made three fifties while he has crossed the 30-run-mark twice, failing in just two games and there are high chances that he would cross the 23-run-mark in the game against Kings XI Punjab.Â
