IPL 2018: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians, Match Prediction

The Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians have had the worst possible start to their IPL season, winning just 2 out of the 6 matches they have played so far. While RCB are seventh on the points table, Mumbai are just above them at sixth place, thanks to their superior net run-rate.

Mumbai Indians began their season with three losses on the trot, with all of them going down to the last over. However, they bounced back in style against RCB at their home ground as they scored over 200 runs in the first innings and restricted RCB to way below the required target.

Unfortunately, they lost their next couple of games to the Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last over once again. They finally achieved their second victory of the tournament against the Chennai Super Kings as they chased down the target of 169 with relative ease.

On the other hand, the Royal Challengers Bangalore began their campaign with a loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders. However, they bounced back with a good win against KXIP. Unfortunately, they weren't able to carry on their momentum as they lost two on the trot before winning their 2nd game against the Daredevils. Once again, they failed to carry on their momentum after that and lost two games in a row.

The two sides will take on each other in their second encounter of the season and will be desperate for a victory in a bid to climb up the table.

Here are the match details:

Time: 20:00 IST

Venue: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

Date: May 1, 2018

Match prediction:

If Royal Challengers Bangalore bat first:

Predicted score: 180+

RCB's batting is their strength and they have put on a few big totals in the tournament so far. However, it is their bowling which has let them down. They failed to defend a 204 run target which they had set for the Chennai Super Kings. They will probably choose to bowl first if they win the toss but if they are asked to bat first by Mumbai, they will have to look to score around 200 runs to give themselves a chance. AB de Villiers will probably be back and he might replace Colin de Grandhomme or Brendon McCullum. He will be the key to RCB's batting along with captain Kohli. We can expect them to score 180+.

If Mumbai Indians bat first:

Predicted score: 180+

Rohit Sharma seems to have finally found some form and will look to carry on from his previous game and go big in this game as well. He almost scored a century against RCB last time and will look to better his performance this time around. Evin Lewis and Suryakumar Yadav have been in great form and will look to give their side the best possible start. If their previous match against RCB is anything to go by, they will surely score above 180 and probably might score 200.

Final prediction:

Given the fact that both the teams are desperate for two points, we can expect a close-fought encounter. Mumbai have had a lot of those and have ended up on the losing side on all occasions, however, this time around, we can expect them to pull it off against a depleted RCB side.