Two in form teams meet in tight battle

Week three of this year’s Dream 11 IPL kicks off with two teams that will be looking to carry on their good form as the Royal Challengers Bangalore take on the Delhi Capitals in Dubai. RCB will be looking for a similar performance that got them an eight wicket over the Rajasthan Royals on Saturday. Whilst a stunning performance with the bat from the Capitals saw them post 228/4 as they beat the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Strutting up the table

Things are starting to look good for the team from Bangalore and their comprehensive victory over Rajasthan shows how good they can be on their day. The win was set up by some brilliant opening bowling from Isuru Udana, (4-0-41-2) and Navdeep Saini (4-0-37-1) who helped to pin the Royals back from 27-0 to 31-3. Their figures don’t justify how important their opening spells were. Yuzvendra Chahal continued to cast his spell over the opposition batsmen with a breath-taking 4-0-24-3, which included the wicket of the dangerous Sanju Samson.

In reply it was a two man demolition job for RCB. Devdutt Padikkal became the fastest player in IPL history to reach three half centuries with a fine 63, and the captain Virat Kohli returned to form with 72* to see his team over the line in style.

What will please the staff and management at RCB is the fact that their bowlers are helping them win games and they aren’t having to rely on their top heavy batting line up. To restrict Rajasthan to 154 with the firepower they have in their ranks, shows that they are a team in good shape in all departments.

Cashing in, in Sharjah

Only at Sharjah could a first innings score of 228 be seen as just above par, but even so, there we some outstanding batting on display when the Delhi Capitals played KKR on Saturday. The captain Shreyas Iyer came good with a swashbuckling 88* from just 38 balls and the young opener Prithvi Shaw continued to show his class with an impressive 66. After Rajasthan’s historic run chase last Sunday, the Capitals will have known they will need to bowl well to see off KKR and they did, an 18 run victory to take in to this one.

Head Coach Ricky Ponting will be glad to have Ravi Ashwin fit and back in the squad. The experienced all-rounder offers a lot with the bat and ball. Despite not having the best time with the ball last time out, it is hard for any bowler when they are trying to defend such small boundaries.

Match Tip

Two teams in good form, it will make for an interesting and tight battle. Despite the good form of Devdutt Padikkal for RCB, the experience of Shikhar Dhawan and the class of Prithvi Shaw make the Delhi Capitals the slight favourites for me.

I am backing the Delhi Capitals to have the highest opening partnership at 1.91 with bet365.

Bet Delhi Capitals to have the highest opening partnership on Bet365