Hello and welcome to Sportstar 's live blog of Saturday's Indian Premier League (IPL 2019) clash between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
AB de Villiers is adjudged Man of the Match for his scintillating knock of 82 not out (44b, 3x4,7x6) which propelled RCB to a total of 202/4.
An early impetus provided by K.L. Rahul, Chris Gayle looked to have set up another successful chase at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, and Nicholas Pooran's 28-ball 46 (1x4, 5x6) threatened to take the game away from RCB. But thanks to some brilliant death bowling by Navdeep Saini (4-0-33-2) and Umesh Yadav (4-0-36-3) pulled things back for the home side to earn two more points. RCB moves to seventh place in the table above Rajasthan Royals, but it is a huge blow to Kings XI Punjab's playoffs chances, which remains fifth below Sunrisers Hyderabad on 10 points from 11 matches.
Next Up: RCB takes on Delhi Capitals at New Delhi on Sunday while Kings XI Punjab will face Sunrisers Hyderabad at Hyderabad on Monday.
Tomorrow: Kolkata Knight Riders faces off against Rajasthan Royals at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata at 8:00 PM (IST)
RCB WINS BY 17 RUNS! Murugan Ashwin hits it towards deep cover and run two. But that will not be enough.
KOHLI DROPS ASHWIN! Murugan Ashwin hits it straight to Virat Kohli, who drops it this time. But, it will not cost his side as KXIP needs 20 runs off the final ball.
UMESH YADAV ON A HAT-TRICK! Hardus Viljoen, topedges a short ball and Parthiv Patel takes a superb catch.
TIME FOR SOME KOHLI BANTER! Ravichandran Ashwin hits a six off the first ball, but is unable to get past Virat Kohli at long-on off the next ball. Kohli mouths something to Ashwin which felt like "How did you think you would hit a six past me?"
POORAN GONE! A brilliant shortball directed towards Nicholas Pooran's body by Navdeep Saini is hit miles in the air. AB de Villiers makes no mistake and takes the catch. KXIP needs 27 off 6 balls.
ABD you beauty! A brilliant diving catch by AB de Villiers near the boundary sends back David Miller (24 off 25 balls (2x4)) in Navdeep Saini's bowling. Virat Kohli is delighted by teammate's efforts. KXIP needs 30 off 11 balls.
DROPPED! Pooran skies a short ball by Umesh Yadav towards legside. Marcus Stoinis, at long-on, keeps his eyes on the ball, but is unable to hold on to the catch. KXIP needs 31 in 14 balls.
FOUR! Intelligent shot by David Miller. Tim Southee bowls fractionally outside offstump and the left-hander guides it to a boundary at thirdman. Southee bowls full and Miller hits it straight down the ground for another four. KXIP needs 36 off 18 balls
SIX! Looks like someone relayed Nicholas Pooran the information that he is in West Indies' provisional squad for the 2019 World Cup. He shuffles across the stumps and hits Moeen Ali for a huge six over widish long-off. A loose fulltoss by Ali disappears over the midwicket boundary. Read the full squad for West Indies' World Cup campaign here . KXIP needs 43 off 24 balls.
FOUR! Pooran has decided to go after the RCB bowling. He makes room on the offside and clears the in-circle. It looked like another six, but replays show that the ball bounced just before hitting the rope. KXIP 143/3 in 15 Overs.
6,6,6 Washington Sundar bowls on the middlestump twice, Nicholas Pooran makes room and hits two sixes on the offside. Another one tossed up on the offstump also disappears into the crowd over long-off. KXIP 135/3 in 14 Overs.
OUT! Moeen Ali strikes in the next over. K.L. Rahul digs it out of the block hole but the ball flies straight to Tim Southee at long-off. KXIP 108/3 in 11 Overs.
Chahal misses the stumps! K.L. Rahul asks for a single inside the circle. He has to rush at the bowler's end, Chahal throws but narrowly misses. KXIP 105/2 in 10 Overs.
Breakthrough! Short ball outside offstump by Stoinis and Mayank Agarwal is not in control of his pull shot. He finds Chahal at midwicket who takes an easy catch. KXIP 101/2 in 9.1 Overs.
SIX! Flat six over long-off! Too full on the offstump by Chahal and Mayank Agarwal clears the boundary with ease. KXIP 101/1 in 9 Overs.
FOUR - Stoinis comes up with a short delivery and Mayank pulls it confidently through the square leg for a boundary. Punjab motoring nicely.
KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal are banking on singles at the moment and a partnership here will put Punjab in a good position, giving the start they have got.
SIX! Yuzvendra Chahal bowls one close to the body off the first ball, but is for a huge six over mid-wicket by K.L. Rahul. The opener hits him for a boundary off the next ball. KXIP 68/1 in 6 Overs.
Mayank Agarwal makes a good start. He flicks Tim Southee off the pads twice for two boundaries on the legside. RCB 56/1 in 5 Overs.
OUT! Umesh Yadav goes over the wicket and this time it works. A slightly wider delivery makes Gayle drag it away from offstump and finds AB de Villiers at long-on. KXIP 42/1 in 3.2 Overs.
SIX! Another fuller-length ball and it disappears into the crowd. KXIP 42/0 in 3.1 Overs.
FOUR! Too full by Umesh Yadav. The Indian pacer bowls on the pads and K.L. Rahul hits him for two consecutive fours on the legside. KXIP 23/0 in 2 overs.
SUPERB START BY GAYLE! Chris Gayle hits Tim Southee for three boundaries in the first over. KXIP 14/0 in 1 Over.
KL Rahul and Chris Gayle walk out to the middle. Tim Southee is given the responsibility to open the bowling and gives away a single to begin with.
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RCB began the innings in emphatic fashion with Parthiv Patel's 43 off 24 balls taking the home team to 70/1 in the powerplay. But four quick wickets slowed down the scoring. But AB de Villiers (82 not out off 44 balls) and Marcus Stoinis (46 off 34 balls) played cautiously in the beginning but took the Punjab bowlers to cleaners in the final three overs scoring 64 runs, giving Punjab a tough target to chase. Given the nature of the pitch, Punjab will need Chris Gayle to come to the party against his former side.
27 off the last over! RCB 202/4 in 20 Overs.
6 R. Ashwin has a small chat with his bowler, but another ball in the slot is too easy for Stoinis who hits it over long-on to finish the innings with a huge six.
4 He fluffs his lines again on the penultimate ball and Stoinis cuts him for a boundary behind the keeper.
6 A fuller length ball goes for a six over the long-on boundary.
4 A low full-toss to Stoinis leads to a boundary over fine-leg.
1 De Villiers takes a single off the second ball. Stoinis needs to go big now.
6 In the slot by Viljoen and it disappears into the crowd. De Villiers heaves it towards legside and clears long-on.
ON THE ROOF! Shami keeps the scoring rate down with a couple of short balls, but takes a beating for the rest of the over as De Villiers hits him for two sixes. He topedges a full toss from Shami on the next ball. Thanks to the new-age bats the balls flies over the stands and lands on the roof. RCB 175/4 in 19 Overs.
SIX! Fuller, in the slot, by Viljeon and De Villiers hits it for a monstrous six over long-on. The pacer goes for slower deliveries, but De Villiers cuts the final ball for a two over backward point. RCB 154/4 in 18 Overs.
FIFTY! A low full-toss on the pads by Viljoen and De Villiers nudges it towards fine-leg for a boundary to bring up his 33rd IPL fifty in 36 balls. (2x4, 3x6).
SIX! The pair has stepped on the gas. AB de Villiers brings up the 50 partnership with a huge six over wide long-on. RCB 133/4 in 16 Overs.
AB GOES BIG! Short and keeps low, De Villiers gets on his knee and hits it over mid-wicket for a huge six. Rajpoot has been very expensive today. However, the pacer makes a good comeback with a yorker dot ball on the final ball of the over. RCB 122/4 in 15 Overs.
The ball is missing! Ankit Rajpoot gets ready to bowl the next over and asks for the ball, but it is nowhere to be found. AB de Villiers has a smirk on his face. Umpire Chettithody Shamshuddin had it in pocket all along and the play resumes.
SIX! First boundary after 38 balls. Murugan Ashwin bowls one in the slot and Stoinis launches it into the crowd over long-off. RCB 109/4 in 14 Overs.
New batsman Marcus Stoinis and AB de Villiers have been careful against spinners. There has been no boundary in the past 28 balls. RCB 94/4 in 12 Overs.
RCB FOUR DOWN! Punjab has taken a beating in the powerplay but has hit back strongly in the next three overs. Hardus Viljoen bowls a slow ball on the fuller-length to Akshdeep Nath who leans forward and gets a flying edge. Mandeep Singh takes an easy catch. RCB 81/4 in 9 Overs.
OUT! Ravichandran Ashwin castles Moeen Ali with a ball that turns fiercely from outside the offstump and hits his middle stump. The Punjab captain is pumped. RCB 76/3 in 7.3 Overs.
OUT! Ravichandran Ashwin turns to spin and it's worked! Murugan Ashwin bowls a flighted delivery to Parthiv, who tries to play it towards legside but gets a topedge. R. Ashwin, at cover, takes an easy catch. RCB 70/2 in 6.1 Overs.
PARTHIV ON FIRE! Shami misses his length and his hit for three fours on the offside by Parthiv. Anything slightly fuller is being put away by the left-hander. Shami tries a slower ball, Parthiv gets down on one knee and slaps it over mid-wicket for a six. RCB 70/1 in 6 Overs.
FOUR! AB de Villiers squeezes it between mid-wicket and mid-on for a boundary on the legside. He then hits the balls on the full through the covers for three runs. Rajpoot goes for a slower ball to Parthiv but it is too easy for the keeper-batsman, who hits it into the sight screen for the first six of the match. RCB 52/1 in 5 Overs.
A brilliant comeback by Shami. The Indian pacer gives away just three runs and gets the all-important wicket of Virat Kohli. RCB 38/1 in 4 Overs.
OUT! Shami bowls an in-swinger this time, on the offstump and Kohli tries to go over the cover, but hits it straight to Mandeep. RCB 35/1 in 3.1 Overs.
Free-Hit! Ankit Rajpoot oversteps the crease by a big margin in two balls. He forces Parthiv Patel to play it on to his stumps, but the batsmen take a single of it. Rajpoot curses under his breath. RCB 35/0 in 3 Overs.
FOUR! Kohli thanks Punjab with two boundaries on the offside in the next two balls. Parthiv Patel glances the ball over to a boundary at fine-leg. Another huge over for RCB, 15 off it. RCB 27/0 in 2 Overs.
KOHLI DROPPED! Shami's first ball in the second over skids over the surface and keeps low. Kohli picks it up but is straight at Hardus Viljeon at mid-wicket who makes a mess of it.
FOUR! Back-to-back boundaries for Parthiv. He cuts Rajpoot towards backward point for a boundary and then smashes a fuller-length delivery on the half-volley straight down the ground. Kohli gets off the mark with a nudge off the backfoot towards point. RCB 12/0 in 1 Over.
Virat Kohli and Parthiv Patel walk up to the pitch to take guard. Ashwin throws the ball to Ankit Rajpoot to open the bowling, who starts with a dot ball.
Playing XIs
Royal Challengers Bangalore : Parthiv Patel(wk), Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers, Marcus Stoinis, Akshdeep Nath, Moeen Ali, Washington Sundar, Tim Southee, Navdeep Saini, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal
Out- Pawan Negi, Dale Steyn | In- Tim Southee, Washington Sundar
Kings XI Punjab : Lokesh Rahul(wk), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, Nicholas Pooran, Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Hardus Viljoen, Murugan Ashwin, Ankit Rajpoot, Mohammed Shami
Out - Sam Curran, Harpreet Brar | In- Nichola Pooran, Ankit Rajpoot
KXIP wins Toss and chooses to bowl
Few more minutes to go for the Toss....
Moeen Ali, who has rejuvenated RCB's campaign with his knocks of 50, 66, and a 16-ball 26 against CSK, will leave IPL for England's World Cup preparations along with a host of foreign stars. Check out the full list of departing players here .
When the two teams last met, Chris Gayle had missed out on his seventh IPL century after being left stranded on 99| Gayle becomes second batsman to remain unbeaten on 99 in IPL
Defeat to CSK would have formally ended RCB's already faint hopes of progress in the competition. As it turned out, Parthiv Patel's throw hit the stumps, and RCB still has something to play for.
Read our correspondent Shreedutta Chidananda's preview:
Royal Challengers Bangalore gears up for Kings XI Punjab battle
The relief was evident on Virat Kohli's face on Sunday. When it seemed to all the world that Mahendra Singh Dhoni had pulled off another spectacular escape, RCB sneaked home.
Defeat to CSK would have formally ended RCB's already faint hopes of progress in the competition. As it turned out, Parthiv Patel's throw hit the stumps, and RCB still has something to play for.
Kohli's men will hope to carry that winning feeling into their next game, against Kings XI Punjab at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday.
A huge factor in RCB's renaissance has been Dale Steyn. The South African fast bowler arrived, as Parthiv pointed out, "without any baggage of what had happened in the tournament before".
And he has been excellent, taking two wickets each — in the powerplay overs — against KKR and CSK. It's something RCB's bowlers had been failing to do earlier, and it has made a palpable difference.
Kohli (387) and A.B. de Villiers (332) remain RCB's leading scorers but it must please the captain that Parthiv and Moeen Ali have also contributed with the bat in recent fixtures.
Wednesday's game will be Moeen's last for RCB this season, with England's cricketers asked to report on April 26 for the start of their preparations for the World Cup.
Read: Foreign stars begin exodus as World Cup duty calls
Kohli admitted on Sunday that sending Moeen down the order at 6 against CSK was perhaps too much of a demotion. "Having one game left in the season for him, you might just see him come up the order and enjoy himself a little bit," he said post-match.
Kings XI Punjab has endured mixed luck this season, winning five and losing five. R. Ashwin's men are right in the thick of the race for the playoffs, and can afford few missteps in their final four games. "Our thought process is very simple. We have to win three games out of four and we'll take them one at a time," said Kings XI's Mayank Agarwal.
The 28-year-old batsman is one of several former RCB players currently in the Kings XI camp. Chris Gayle, a favourite of the crowds during his time with RCB, K.L. Rahul, and Mandeep Singh have all called this venue home before. "Obviously, knowing the dimensions of the ground and knowing how the wicket plays and what has been the trend — all of that does make a difference," Agarwal felt.
Also read: Moeen Ali - A shame to be flying back early
When the two teams last met, 10 days ago, Gayle made an unbeaten 99 (64b), even if RCB won quite comfortably in the end. The Jamaican is sure to receive a hero’s welcome on Wednesday — regardless of who he is turning out for.
( The match will begin at 8pm and will be streamed live on Hotstar )
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