Champions League Twenty20 Betting - Bangalore favored in tight tussle
by Juris Graney
Bangalore Royal Challengers vs. Victorian Bushrangers
Thursday, September 15, 10am
Champions League Twenty20 Odds:
Bangalore Royal Challengers –130
Victorian Bushrangers Ev
Australian state team the Victorian Bushrangers have already caused one major upset this tournament when they comprehensively beat Indian Premier League franchise the Delhi Daredevils in the Champions League Twenty20.
A repeat performance will however not guarantee victory against the much stronger and more heavily fancied Bangalore Royal Challengers in the second round of the inaugural tournament.
Delhi were shocked into submission by a hungry Victorian outfit who used brilliant change of pace and good lines to keep the electrifying batting line up of Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Owais Shah to just 98 runs in their 20 overs.
The Victorian batsmen made light work of the run chase achieving it with seven wickets and more than three overs in hand.
A hiccup against Wayamba Elevens, which saw them finish with six wickets in hand but 15 runs short of the meek total of 118 was just that, a hiccup.
With a line up of internationals in Brad Hodge, Andrew McDonald, David Hussey and captain Cameron White, Victoria are a true force in this tournament and if not for a few failures of the less experienced squad members, they could have cruised to victory atop their group.
That wasn’t to be and the poor returns from 27-year-old opener Rob Quiney and 25-year-old tyro Aiden Blizzard will not be replicated in this match. They are both quick learners and realise they need to step up if Victoria are to move through to the next round.
Of concern is Hussey’s returns this tournament. A pair of sevens is hardly enough from an international player of Hussey’s quality and captain White will be looking for something more constructive.
Victoria’s strengths however lay in their bowling attack and it is certainly one thing that Bangalore will be fully aware of.
Shane Harwood along with Clint McKay are joint leading wicket takers in this tournament with five each (they are joined by NSW part-timer Moises Henriques) and not surprisingly lead the best bowling averages as well. Combine those two with Australian internationals Peter Siddle and Andrew McDonald and you have a formidable attack.
Bangalore’s strength has certainly been their batting so far this tournament with returns of 180 against Cape Cobras, a total they were unable to defend with the ball, and a scintillating 2/188 against the Otago Volts.
Not surprisingly then that the batting aggregate list for this tournament is littered with Bangalore players, Robin Uthappa (93), Ross Taylor (85) and Jacques Kallis (81) among the best.
Kallis, with an average of 81, and Taylor with a phenomenal strike rate of 242.85, lead the way and are the danger men for Bangalore.
Apart from this three Bangalore also has Virat Kohli, Rahul Dravid and Mark Boucher to call on to wield the willow
This match will be an interesting affair – Victoria’s weakness is the batting however Bangalore’s weakness is their bowling.
If Victoria can restrict Bangalore to sub 150 (realistically they will won’t want to chase a total over 130) they are in with a chance however if Bangalore’s top order repeats what it has done so far this tournament then the result could become academic.
Only a win will suffice in this second stage of the tournament as only two teams will move through from each league and a loss early on will mean that teams will have to rely on other results to move through to the semi finals.
That isn’t something Bangalore or Victoria will want to bank on.
