Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders Betting Tips 18/04/2021

16:06, 16 Apr 2021

Senior Author

16:06, 16 Apr 2021

Zohaib Ahmed is a sports journalist whose profession is to report and edit but whose passion is to predict and bet. He’s been in the industry for more than a decade and has worked/written for various bookmakers/tipsters. His expertise is in cricket, football, MMA, boxing and basketball.

The 10th fixture of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 sees Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk, Chennai on April 18 (Sunday). The match, a day/night affair, is scheduled to begin at 3:30pm IST.

Teams Status

RCB, the biggest underachievers of IPL, if you go by the points table, have had a decent start to the tournament so far, having won both of their first two matches. However, take a magnifying glass to their twin wins and the reality will become clear.

In the opening match, despite being given a modest 160-run target by Mumbai Indians, the Virat Kohli-led RCB won on the final ball. Their star-studded top order got starts but could not hang till late and get the job done. If it wasn’t for AB de Villiers’ clutch 27-ball 48, RCB, instead of collecting two points, would have lost by quite a margin.

In their next match, the story of their batting wasn’t very different as their top order against got starts but did not do any more than that. Two-down batsman Glenn Maxwell (59) was the only that did well.

Thankfully for RCB, their bowling unit has been making up for the batters’ underwhelming displays. Medium pacer Harshal Patel deserves a special mention as he has been pivotal with the ball for Kohli’s side in both their wins. Against Mumbai, he had a five-wicket haul and gave away a mere 27 runs, and against SRH the next game he was again brilliant, finishing with figures of 2-25 in his four.

Mohammad Siraj is another one who has started the new season strongly and proven suffocating for the opposing batsmen.

Kolkata will be kicking themselves for not being unbeaten after the first two matches. They won their opening match against the Sunrisers by 10 runs, thanks to the foundation laid by their top-order batsmen, especially Nitish Rana, who top scored with a 56-ball 80.

In the second match, KKR were tasked with chasing down a modest 153-run target, thanks to Andre Russell’s five-for. They got a 72-run stand from their openers. From that point on, the chase should have been a cakewalk but then Rahul Chahar happened.

The Mumbai legspinner claimed four straight wickets, including both the openers, to singlehandedly dismantle the KKR top order. The KKR had a complete meltdown after that and ended up 10 runs short. It was really shocking as KKR have one of the better middle-orders, with names such as Eoin Morgan, Shakib Al Hasan, not to mention Russell himself lower down the order.

What Do the Sportsbooks Say?

Brand	Home team name	Away team name
	1.75	2.05
	1.73	2.104
	1.76	2.04

Bookmakers have installed RCB as the favourites and KKR as the slight underdogs. At 22Bet, you can back RCB for 1.73 and KKR at 2.104; Bet365 has RCB priced at 1.75 and KKR 2.05; and LeoVegas has RCB at 1.76 and KKR at 2.04.

Tipster’s Angel

Tip: KKR to win – Yes @ 2.104

This is a toss-up as both the teams are pretty powerful. When there is nothing to choose between the sides, conventional wisdom tells us that go with the underdogs, which in this case are KKR. It makes sense, too, as their bowlers and top-order are already playing well. The rest of the batting unit has to chip in, which it can start from any match as they have all the right players.

Tip: Virat Kohli to score 50 runs – Yes @ 3

RCB skipper Virat Kohli has produced back-to-back 33-run knocks. Both were on the slower side and took 29 balls. The superstar batsman has underperformed and must be keen to atone for those knocks which were detrimental to the team’s cause.

A determined Kohli with a monkey on his back is the most dangerous kind of Kohli there exists. Back the RCB skipper if you believe in him.

Conclusion

The head-to-head record between these side favours KKR (15-10) but RCB have the edge when you narrow it down to the last five matches (3-2). In fact, they have won all of their last three matches – two of them being resounding victories. KKR might want to end that slide so watch out.