Lucknow Super Giants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore - IPL 2022 Match 31: Who Will Win?

Lucknow Super Giants Team Preview

The Lucknow Super Giants are playing in their first ever IPL, but they are flying at the moment and currently sit in second place in the table with 8 points to their name - they have won four of the six matches that they have played so far and have quite a healthy Net Run Rate too, which could ultimately be the difference between making it to the Play-Offs or not.

In their last match of this year's IPL, they took on the Mumbai Indians, who are, to say the very least, having a shocking campaign with no wins from their first six matches. The LSG lost the toss and were put into bat first, and they hit a mammoth total of 199/4 from their 20 overs. Kahul Rahul, as he has been on so many occasions throughout his career, was the star of the show, smashing 103 runs from 60 balls, while Quinton de Kock and Manish Pandey both chipped in with quickfire runs.

When it comes to online cricket betting, one of our favourite markets to put our money on is the Top Batsman market. The main reason why we like such a market is the fact that the odds are always really good because this is not an easy bet to get right. However, if you look back through many of our predictions, you will see that we are pretty good at getting this right.

So, who do we reckon will top score for the LSG in their next match against the RCB? Well, many cricket bettors would avoid Rahul because often after a big knock, a batsman gets out cheaply in the following game. However, we are going to go against the grain here and suggest that you put your money on Rahul to top score for the LSG since he is just pure quality and is in top form. If you do not want to take that risk, then we think that de Kock is due a big score soon.

With 199 runs to defend, the LSG bowlers would have been confident of bowling their team to yet another two points, and they did this quite comfortably in the end - they restricted the MI to a score of 181/9 from their 20 overs, meaning that they won the match by 18 runs. Avesh Khan was the star of the bowling unit, picking up three wickets for 30 runs from the four overs that he bowled. Jason Holder, Marcus Stoinis, and Ravi Bishnoi all picked up a wicket and only conceded 71 runs from 60 ball that they bowled. Dushmantha Chameera was the only bowler who was pretty expensive, conceding 48 runs from the 24 balls that he bowled.

An entertaining thing to do when you are IPL betting is to put money on the player that you think will be the top bowler for a side. This is a popular bet that cricket lovers make because, although it is not easy to get right, the odds that are on offer are always very competitive. So, when it comes to the LSG bowling attack, who would we put our money on to be their top bowler?

Well, we always like the look of Holder and consider him to be a top quality bowler. He is a giant of a man, and his height is something that causes even the best batsmen plenty of issues. So, if you are going to put your money on the Top Bowler market for the LSG, then we recommend that you stick some on Holder to get the most wickets.

What about changes to the LSG playing XI? Well, after such a good win against a really talented, albeit highly out of form Mumbai Indian side, there is no need to make any changes to their playing XI. Thus, for this match, we expect to see the same XI take to the field once again.

Royal Challengers Bangalore Team Preview

The Royal Challengers Bangalore have also started off really well, and they sit in 3rd place in the table, on the same number of points as the LSG. They have a slightly lower NRR though, which is why they are below the LSG in the table.

In their last of the IPL, they took on the Delhi Capitals and went on to win the match by 16 runs. The DC won the toss and opted to field first, and the RCB managed to put a score of 189 on the board. The two main performers for the RCB were Glenn Maxwell, who hit 55 from 34 balls and Dinesh Karthik, who scored 66 from the 34 balls that he faced.

When you are on any IPL betting sites, you will see that you have the option to bet on the Top Batsman for a team and, if you are thinking about making such a wager, then we would recommend that you put your money on Maxwell. The Aussie plays an aggressive style of cricket, and can change a match in just a couple of overs. Karthik is also a good bet, but the fact that he bats lower down the order decreases his chances slightly.

With 189 runs on the board, the RCB would have been very confident of collecting another two points, especially with the quality of bowling that they have at their disposal. They won the match with considerable ease in the end, with Australia's Josh Hazelwood being the pick of their bowlers. He picked up three wickets for 28 runs from the four overs that he bowled. Mohammed Siraj also put in a solid performance, collecting two wickets for 31 runs from his allotted four overs.

When it comes to making an IPL prediction, you can place your hard-earned money on plenty of outcomes. However, one market that we always recommend you try out is the Top Bowler one. With regard to the top bowler for the RCB, we would be more than happy to put our money on Hazelwood and would be very confident of seeing a profit come our way. He is a quality bowler who has the machine-like capability to put the ball on the same spot delivery after delivery.

With regard to their playing XI, just like with the LSG playing XI, we do not expect to see any changes. There really is no need to change a winning formula.

Toss Prediction

From the 29 matches that have been played to date, 18 of them have been won by the team that has won the toss and decided to bat second. Thus, our toss prediction for this match is that the winning captain will opt to field first. This is because dew becomes an issue in the second half of the match, so the captain that wins the toss will want to avoid any disadvantages at all costs.

Pitch Conditions

This match will be played at the DY Patil Stadium, which is a venue where the average first innings score of this year's IPL has been around 174 runs. The team that has batted second at this venue during the 2022 IPL season has won on 56% of occasions, which is another reason why we feel that the captain that wins the toss will look to field first. The team that is batting first will probably need to score around 190 runs if they are going to have any chance of going on to win this match.