BANGALORE BETFAIR ROYAL CHALLENGERS VS RAJASTHAN ROYALS IPL BETTING TIPS

The opening fixtures for the 2009 Indian Premier League are less than a week away and we've got an exciting twenty20 match-up that pits Kevin Pietersen's Royal Challengers Bangalore against Shane Warne's defending IPL champions Rajasthan Royals. Betfair already has fixture markets up for these upcoming matches and the depth of markets is impressive despite not a large dollar value being matched so far. I think there's plenty of value out there, but if you're looking to cash in some serious money, you're not going to get it on the outright market as the layers basically have this one dead-even at 1.8 or so, apiece.Personally, I'm looking at the coin-toss as the all-important factor. I think Bangalore's preference would be to bat first and throw down a big total for Rajasthan to chase. Rajasthan have to rely on just a few top quality batsmen to get the job done and Graeme Smith will be very important to the procedings as will Dimitri Mascarenhas- he will need to bat better than he has in his past few innings. Pietersen is going to be looking forward to this IPL season as a clean slate and a chance to exert his influence without a governing body looking over his shoulder, just the Indian media. He will be geared up to put together a big total and I'm looking for him to partner up with Jesse Ryder early on. I think the two of them could do a lot of damage if they get going. Both of these guys are show-time cricket players and Ryder is fresh off his first test double-century against India, no less. Rahul Dravid will also be keen to exert some authority. Royal Challengers also have the presence of Anil Kumble in the attack. Roloef van der Merwe just put in an incredible shift against the Aussies and will be playing in front of a home crowd. Pietersen will try to stay up the whole game, whereas I think Ryder will go big or go home, such is his nature and such is the stage. It gets no more gratuitous than IPL in the world of cricket and I think we're going to see something special from Challengers here. If Shane Warne is correct, they'll have to keep their eyes peeled for Kamran Khan an 18 year-old upstart left arm fast bowler who was literally plucked out of a local tournament by a member of the team's scouting network. The ideal target for Bangalore is over 180 with three or so wickets taken. I'm confident that both teams will deploy spin from the off in an attempt to coax a high-catch out of an overconfident batsmen. I think some of the less-experienced Indian players will find South African conditions a little less appealing than home turf. I think Rajasthan will struggle with a chase and Pietersen will look for his bowlers to strike early. Overall, I'm backing Bangalore to start the season with a bang and win by an approximate score of 183/4 - 164/7.