Two matchdays to go in IPL 2022, and three teams remain. The Gujarat Titans have already booked a spot in the final after winning the first qualifier against the Rajasthan Royals, who by virtue of finishing second on the table have another shot at the final in the second qualifier.
Bet On Rajasthan vs Bangalore Here
They’ll face Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Sportsbooks of the Eliminator match on Wednesday, whose bowling unit delivered when it mattered most against the Lucknow Super Giants.
It was their supreme batting effort, led by Rajat Patidar, that put Royal Challengers in a winning position in the first place, though, and that might not be as easy to do against Rajasthan, whose bowling attack is arguably more well rounded than that of the Super Giants.
The Sportsbook on Friday makes the final, and we expect this to be a high-intensity game that swings both ways through its course before we have a definitive Sportsbook.
Rajasthan vs Bangalore Odds
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Rajasthan Royals | +100 |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore | -120 |
Odds as of May 26 at Sportsbook
Royal Challengers Bangalore (-120)
This marks the third season in a row that the Royal Challengers Bangalore have made it to the playoffs stage and their eighth time overall. Their infamous past, of course, involves no success from this position onward; they’ve been in the final three times and lost all of them.
There is a good case to say that this team – with its bowling resources in particular – is the strongest and most balanced one to make it to the playoffs for them so far, and that makes them slight favorites for this fixture in our books.
The probability of players like Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell to come good on any given evening is generally pretty high and to think that they’ve been managing to get by without all of them coming good together is a testament to the squad they’ve built up.
Player confidence is made or destroyed in the closing stages of both innings, and RCB goes into the second qualifier having bossed that phase in both their batting and bowling innings against the Super Giants.
Rajasthan Royals (+100)
A lot of Rajasthan’s success has been built around the individual contributions of Jos Buttler with the bat and Yuzvendra Chahal with the ball.
That isn’t to say others haven’t stepped up. The all-round contributions from this team, be it Ashwin with both bat and ball, Devdutt Padikkal in a new middle-order role, or Obed McCoy’s little flashes of brilliance in the last game, cannot be understated.
Like Royal Challengers, the Rajasthan Royals have a good claim if they say this is one of their most well-compiled squads in a long, long time.
Their only potential vulnerability lies in the band between No. 6 and No. 7, the domain of specialist T20 all-rounders; on the batting side, that part of their team could appear very thin if a few early wickets fall. On the other side of it, there is a conspicuous lack of a backup bowling option.
In short, how they compete in the second qualifier against the Royal Challengers will come down to how well their sure performers can execute their roles once again.
Buttler will have to be front and center with the bat once more, as an innings without too much of his influence will put a heavy strain on the Rajasthan batting. As a bowling unit, they look every bit as good as Royal Challengers.
Rajasthan vs Bangalore Picks
Royal Challengers Bangalore to win (-120)
We’ve mentioned earlier that the kind of performances Royal Challengers managed to put up in the back ends of both their batting and bowling innings will have completely changed the outlook of all the players who are expected to be involved in those phases.
Only one of their big three batsmen needs to come good on Friday because the supporting players in the lower order have proven themselves more than capable of holding their own as Dinesh Karthik goes berserk around them.
We think they will be strong favorites to win this and make it to the final; from there, though, it’s anyone’s guess. Teams don’t normally win three playoff games in a row.
Rajasthan vs Bangalore Best Bet
Harshal Patel (RCB), Wanindu Hasaranga (RCB) & Yuzvendra Chahal (RR) To All Take A Wicket (+165)
See Odds Shark’s Best IPL Sites
For the kinds of odds that Sportsbook is offering on three bowlers who have been among the most influential in the season – Hasaranga and Chahal are literally fighting it out for the top wicket-takers cap – this is a no-brainer.
These names have the perfect combination of skill, form and bowling situations for them to all be reasonable shouts to pick up wickets.
