Battle of the big hitters as Punjab meet Bangalore in IPL

Despite being down in fifth place in the Indian Premier League table and just outside the play-off places, Coral still rate Royal Challengers Bangalore as second-favourites at 12/5 to win the title outright.

That is perhaps due to the fact that they still have three matches to play of the regular season, and have at least one game in hand on the rest of the teams. Bangalore are odds-on 2/5 favourites for victory in this match.

They face last season’s runner-up Kings XI Punjab (15/8), who happen to be down at the bottom of the table, and can count on star batsmen Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers to get them back into the top four, after starting the season so well.

In Gayle and De Villiers, Bangalore have perhaps the two most feared and devastating hitters in world cricket, and are priced at 10/3 and 7/2 respectively to be the highest run scorers of the match.

South African De Villiers, in particular, is in fine form, and continues to wow the crowds, following his most recent super hit of 133 off just 59 balls against Mumbai Indians. He is 11/4 to be best batsman for his side.

These two teams met as recently as a week ago in the reverse fixture, with Bangalore smashing Punjab by 138 runs, getting the visitors out for just 88 after setting a target of 226.

Pacy left-arm fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Sreenath Aravind were devastating in that second innings, and the Australian star is 11/4 to get the most wickets of the match here.

Punjab, who have won just twice all season and will finish bottom, have their own top batsmen in Indians Murali Vijay, Manan Vohra and veteran Virender Sehwag. They are respective 10/3, 7/2 and 9/2 shouts to hit the highest scores for their team.

They will also have the likes of Aussies Glenn Maxwell and George Bailey, as well as South African David Miller to turn to in hope of getting just their third win of the tournament. You can back them at 7/2, 6/1 and 4/1 respectively to be best Punjab batsmen.