The 50th match of the 2020 Indian Premier League is between two teams currently in the bottom half of the table. While KXIP are 5th and still within a shot of the top 4, RR are currently struggling in 7th place. Let’s preview this match from a betting perspective with odds provided by LeoVegas India.
Our Top Betting Picks:
Rajasthan Royals won the inaugural IPL title back in 2008, however they have struggled considerably ever since. Kings XI Punjab reached the final back in 2014 but have been one of the poorest performing teams since then. Their head to head record is extremely balanced, with the Royals winning 11 out of 20 matches, and Punjab winning the other 9. Earlier this season the Royals managed to defeat the Kings XI in one of the most dramatic run-chases in IPL history.
KXIP looked to be in incredible batting form initially. Both their openers, Rahul and Mayank have played two big innings each, including a century each as well. They have scored 200+ runs twice already, although their bowling has repeatedly failed them as RR managed to chase down the highest score in IPL history against them.
This disbalance has caused them to lost 4 matches in a row, and they are currently bottom of the table with just 1 win in 6 matches. They lost to SRH by a huge margin of 69 runs, but the performance of Pooran will be encouraging, as the over reliance on the openers has cost them so far.
They suffered another heartbreak vs KKR as they lost by just 2 runs, after Glenn Maxwell came within inches of the boundary rope when they needed a 6 to tie the match. Finally, their patience paid off as they managed to beat RCB to end a streak of 4 straight defeats. The resurgence continued with a dramatic win over Mumbai Indians which ended in 2 separate super-overs ! They followed this up with another impressive victory over then table-toppers Delhi Capitals, beating the top 2 sides in the league in back to back matches. They then defended a modest total against SRH in a remarkable turnaround, before successfully chasing down a decent total against KKR.
Rajasthan Royals started IPL 2020 with a bang, winning their first 2 matches in dramatic fashion, scoring over 400 runs in the process. Their top order has been fairly consistent while Jofra Archer has been absolutely brilliant with the bat as well as ball. The return of Ben Stokes will make them an even more formidable unit. They had lost 4 matches in a row, but came back brilliantly against SRH to move up to 6th in the table.
However, another damaging defeat to table-toppers DC put them back in 7th place. RCB beat them convincingly recently, however they came back strongly against CSK to move up to 6th in the table. Things soured again though, with a one-sided defeat against SRH as they dropped to 7th again. Despite beating MI in heroic fashion, RR are still 7th in the table.
KXIP are the favourites to win the match with odds of 1.80 as per LeoVegas, which is not surprising as KXIP is the most in-form team in the tournament with 5 consecutive matches, while RR have won only 2 of their last 5 matches.
After his consistent form all season, KL Rahul is the favourite to be Punjab’s top batsman, with odds of 3.00. He is followed by his opening partner Mayank Agarwal at 4.00, which is tempting as he has been in equally brilliant form. Chris Gayle’s return has changed things, with the big West Indian now second-favourite to be the top scorer at 3.50.
Jos Buttler is still the favourite to be their top batsman in this match with odds of 3.75. He was their top scorer as they succumbed to a disappointing defeat to MI. His opening partner Sanju Samson has odds of 4.50, while the dependable Steve Smith also has odds of 4.50. A century in the last match by Ben Stokes has made him the second-favourite at 4.00, as per LeoVegas
KXIP are favourites at 1.75 to have the highest opening partnership as Mayank and Rahul are the most prolific opening pairing in the league so far. RR on the other hand have been unable to fix their opening pairing.
Mohammed Shami is the favourite to be the top bowler for Punjab at 3.50, with Cottrel at 4.00 another attractive option.
On the other hand, Jofra Archer is the favourite to be the top bowler from RR at 3.00, followed by all-rounder Tom Curran at 4.33 and leggie Shreyas Gopal at 4.50.
Odds of there being more than 328.5 runs in this match are 1.76, as per LeoVegas. This seems highly achievable as both these teams have some brilliant batsmen and have scored plenty of runs this season..
Our Dream XI team for this match is fairly balanced with 2 wicket-keepers, 4 batsmen, 2 all-rounders and 3 bowlers.
KL Rahul is probably the most consistent batsman in the league, and is the favourite to be the Orange cap winner as well. Hence, we have vice-captained him. Samson is an explosive young Indian keeper-batsman who can take the game away from the opposition.
From RR we have included the dependable Steve Smith. From KXIP, we have included the devastating Universal Boss i.e. Chris Gayle along with the consistently Mayank Agarwal and Mandeep Singh.
From RR we have taken Ben Stokes, as he opens the innings with the bat and also bowls a few key overs in every match. He hit a century against MI, and hence we have captained him. Along with him is Maxwell, who opens the bowling for KXIP.
Our bowling line-up is led by Archer (3.00 to be RR’s top bowler), who is in exceptional form. We have also included Jordan after his 3 wicket haul against SRH and the impressive Shreyas Gopal.
