Mumbai to hit more sixes than Bangalore @ 1.85

When compared to the previous market, this is close. But hey, Mumbai are still clear - and by some distance. Last season, Mumbai scored an average of 47.43 runs in the first six overs, a tally that was only bettered by Hyderabad. You would think that Bangalore would have been close to this figure but they were not: their average score of 41.93 was the third-worst in the entire league. A part of this was due to the inability of Virat Kohli - who struck at a mere 109.5 in the powerplay last season - to make use of the field restrictions and this time around they’ve compounded their problems by asking the skipper to open. It was also telling that, last year, Bangalore got progressively worse in the powerplay: after scoring an average of 44 runs in their first 8 games, they managed just 39.55 per game in their last 7, a figure which dropped to an embarrassing 38 in the final four matches. In contrast, while Mumbai scored 46 runs per game in their first 7 games, their tally improved to 48.55 in the last 9 games of the season and shot up to an unbelievable 58.5 in the playoffs. And yes, both these sides react differently to playing in Chennai - in IPL 2019, Bangalore posted just 33 in the powerplay in their only game at the venue en route to suffering an embarrassing loss while Mumbai not only won both their matches at the stadium but outscored their opponents in the first six overs on both instances. Trust not just the numbers but also your instincts and head to Indibet to place this bet RIGHT NOW!

Now, we’ll admit it - this is a risky bet and there are no two ways about it. But in the spectrum of ‘risky bets’, picking Chahal to be RCB’s top-bowler, that too in Chennai, should be right up there as the most risk-free ‘risky’ bet to place. First, there’s the factor of Chahal being the side’s best bowler, in general. In each of the last two seasons, Chahal has finished as Bangalore’s top wicket-taker by some distance and last year, in fact, the leggie took 10 more wickets than any Bangalore bowler. Then comes the spin factor. Chennai, as we know, is a spin-paradise with spinners having taken 58% of all wickets at the venue in the 2019 season, meaning pacers can all but be taken out of the equation. With Zampa unavailable, Sundar will serve as Chahal’s closest competitor for the ‘top bowler’ tag but the off-spinner is inherently NOT a wicket-taker. Sundar took just 0.53 wkts per game last season, which was almost a wicket per game fewer than Chahal’s tally of 1.4. On top of all this, Chahal was Bangalore’s ‘top bowler’ in 3 of the side’s last 5 matches last season and, incidentally, he was also the Reds’ top bowler the last time they paid a visit to Chepauk. With everything stacked in the leggie’s favor, it would only be wise to jump to Indibet and place a bet on Yuzzie Chahal being the top bowler for Bangalore come April 9.