Betting tips / Rowan Williams / 09 May 2012 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

When the Mumbai Indians meet the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their next IPL match, Rowan Williams advises waiting until after the toss before placing your bets.

Venue and Conditions
With the Indian summer looming up fast, the players will be hoping for the evening to bring some cooler conditions. There is no rain due for the day's only fixture at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Royal Challengers Bangalore Team News
Skipper Daniel Vettori was left out for the first time for Sunday's thriller against the Deccan Chargers. Muttiah Muralitharan came in and as his replacement and bowled superbly, conceding 18 runs from his four overs. Tillakaratne Dilshan (71 off 54 balls) and AB de Villiers (47 from just 17 balls) both played match winning innings in that game and with the other overseas berth being that held by Chris Gayle, we may see the Kiwi left out for the second game in a row. The Challengers might be tempted to rest Big Chris' groin, but the battle for the play-offs is getting close and the Challengers will want to be at full strength.

Mumbai Indians
The Indians will also be coming into this game with elevated spirits following a sensational two wicket win against the Chennai Super Kings, also on Sunday. In his first ever IPL game Dwayne Smith battered 14 from the final three balls of the run chase to help his new side home, following Sachin Tendulkar's return to form with a 44 ball score of 74. Rohit Sharma also scored a stylish fifty, and is a player of exceptional talent.

However when it comes to the crunch he really needs someone to be at the crease holding his hand, otherwise he tends to fold like a towel. Another batsman of questionable traits is the Kiwi James Franklin, he has enjoyed a good run in the side, often as opener, but has only made one fifty in nine innings and has a strike rate of 100. It might be time for the Indians to give the stoutly built Richard Levi another go at the top of the order.

Match odds
The market can't decide this one and punting this market before the start of the game is probably pointless. The two sides contain a mouth-watering mix of the world class talent and flaky personalities; this gives the match an excellent chance of swinging from one side to the other throughout the 40 overs. If you have to pick one side I would go for the Royal Challengers because they have De Villiers, but the key in this game could well be trading, with the intention of minimising your liability before the last couple of overs. Both sides won last time out after drifting to big odds with a few overs to go, so there is potential for a repeat with whoever bats second never being out of the game.

Bangalore Top Batsman
Once again the Bangalore batting side has two major beacons. Gayle and AB de Villiers are the stand out batsmen and the market will revolve around these two. For some reason the Bangalore hierarchy are continuing to wait with the South African and he has been coming in at five. Hopefully they will soon see sense and promote him up the order so that he can get to face more than a handful of balls. I would be tempted to bet on De Villiers and hope that this is the case. I would be especially tempted in the unlikely event Gayle is rested.

Mumbai Top Batsman
Dwayne Smith has opened many twenty games in his career. From this position he was one of the highest scoring players in the Bangladeshi equivalent competition played earlier in the year and he scored an aggressive 63 from 34 balls in the last international T20 the West Indies played against Australia in late march. Following his match winning 24 from nine balls last time out, there is a chance that the Mumbai Indians could ask Dwayne to open the innings in place of the lack lustre Franklin. If this is the case then he is a good bet for the top Batsman. If we are lucky then he might be included in the 'Any Other Batsman' selection, as he came in at six on Sunday; in which case you will get another five lower order batsmen for free with your bet.