RR vs RCB Prediction: Top Batsmen markets are ones to look at

Wednesday’s Indian Premier League Eliminator (15:00, Sky Sports Cricket) match will be played at Ahmedabad with the winners still in with a chance of going all the way.

Another match where the winner market is best swerved means two local middle-order batsmen provide the best value bets for this one according to our cricket writer Jamie Pacheco. Read his RR vs RCB Predictions below...

Rajasthan Royals

After two-thirds of the Group Stages, they looked likely to top the table or at least finish Top 2 and have two bites of the cherry at making the final.

But however good their start was, that was unlikely to happen when they went on a horror run of four straight defeats and were then robbed of the chance to still sneak into the Top 2 at the expense of the Sunrisers Hyderabad, when their game against Kolkata was rained off on Sunday.

Sure, the losses of Jos Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer, their two senior overseas batsmen, didn’t help matters. But that’s why you have squads rather than XIs and others need to step up when star players are ruled out.

Tom Kohler-Cadmore will probably keep his spot at the top of the order, replacing Buttler. Trent Boult will carry on doing his thing with the ball but more is needed from their other overseas batsman: Rovman Powell.

They may not play a fourth overseas player at all if they decide that neither Donovan Ferreira or Keshav Maharaj are better than what they have on the domestic front.

Possible XI: Jaiswal, Kohler-Cadmore, Samson, Parag, Jurel, Dubey/Powell (subs), Ashwin, Boult, Avesh, Sandeep, Chahal

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Their campaign was pretty much the polar opposite of what the Royals went through. In RCB’s case they started awfully, looked set to miss out on the Playoffs and then went on a superb run of six straight wins, inspired by a fired-up Virat Kohli. With two balls of their last Group match against CSK to go, they still didn’t know if they were going to qualify.

But now they will feel they’re carrying more momentum than anyone else still left in it. They will however have to do it the hard way and win another three in a row, of course.

Kohli has put the criticism about his strike rate aside to hit 708 runs in 14 games, which is 125 more than anyone else this IPL has managed. That includes a century and five fifties and there’s not too much wrong with a strike rate of 155, anyway.

It’s been a team effort with the ball. Yash Dayal (15 wickets) and Mohammad Siraj (13) are the only ones to claim more than ten scalps and remarkably, 15 different players have bowled for them this season, of which 13 took at least one wicket.

There’s no Will Jacks, who is on England duty, so it might be time for Glenn Maxwell to put on a ‘Big Show’. He’s had a hard time of it this year, but he loves the big stages. Curiously, he may have more of an impact here with ball rather than bat.

Possible XI: Du Plessis, Kohli, Maxwell, Patidar/Swapnil (subs), Lomror, Green, Karthik, Dayal, Karn, Siraj, Ferguson

Pitch and conditions

Given this match will be played at Ahmedabad, the same venue for the Qualifier 1, and you might as well read what we had to say about the ground in our KKR v SRH preview rather than me going through it again here. But in a nutshell: 190-200 should be about par batting first.

That said, Tuesday’s match may offer some clues as to how the wicket will play for this one.

But here’s what we do know. RCB’s last four wins were all batting first so they may feel that’s their best chance yet again. The Royals look so lost now that it’s hard to know what they’d rather do if given the chance.

RR vs RCB Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main RR vs RCB market page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

If your life depended on it, RCB would be the bet at 8/11. Not because they’re favourites as such but because they’re the team in excellent form and high on confidence, whereas their opponents are anything but.

But they can be flaky and an off-day for Kohli, who they’ve relied on so heavily, could expose a batting line-up where not many others are in good touch.

Still, a chance to bat first may play into their hands as they go in search of a fifth straight win after having first digs. So if you can get evens on them bating first in live betting, that might be worth a few quid. But we should swerve the 8/11 pre-toss, whereas the Royals can’t be carrying our money given their awful form, either.

Rajasthan Royals Top Batsman

Don’t be too surprised if there’s a big-priced winner in this market. With Buttler out of the equation, any of these middle-order batsmen could be in with a decent chance: Rovman Powell (11/1), Dhruv Jurel (12/1) or even Ravi Ashwin (20/1), who is often promoted to 5 or 6. You could do worse than split a fiver three ways between them and hope for early wickets.

But at 18/5 I prefer a man who’s the team’s top run scorer this season, has a good temperament for the big games and will bat at number four: Riyan Parag. He has the right blend of aggression and

desire to see the job through, rather than always going for broke. And that plays into our hands as a top bat bet.

RCB Top Batsman

At 7/4 Kohli is the man to beat for RCB. And why wouldn’t he be, given his record this campaign?

But he’s still only human, it only takes one ball to dismiss him and he will have to face Trent Boult with the new ball, a stiff challenge, whoever you are.

If Kohli goes out and gets another big score, good on him.

But at twice the price (9/2) I like Rajar Patidar, fresh from scores of 55, 52 and 44 at brilliant strike rates. That 52 was enough for him to top score a couple of matches ago and he’ll bat at three so give you a good run for your money.

Aussie pair Maxwell and Green are both 11/2 but it’s anyone’s guess where they’ll bat and a good start by Kohli and Faf Du Plessis may limit their chances of facing enough balls to top score.

Jamie Pacheco predominantly covers Cricket for us at Betfred Insights. You can check out his Cricket Betting Tips, along with those from the rest of the team, at our Cricket hub page...