That's all from us, folks! Stay tuned to Sportstar to stay updated with all things #IPL2020. We will be back tomorrow, as Thala Dhoni returns to action, with the live coverage of the game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings at the Dubai International Stadium. Goodbye and goodnight!
WHAT THEY SAID
AB de Villiers | MAN OF THE MATCH: Very happy with the performance. Got a duck in the last game and it is always a terrible feeling. Very happy that I contributed. Surprised myself out there tonight. Knew the wicket was quite tough to bat on. But I thought 145-150 wasn't enough. So I looked to go further, and was surprised to get 195.
Virat Kohli, RCB captain:
It was important to get the right start. Great to see individuals step up when the team requires. Bowling unit, with Morris coming in, looks all the more potent. Very happy. At the toss the pitch didn't have the usual Sharjah sheen. Knew the wicket was going to get slower and slower. Barring one super-human, everyone struggled on that pitch. Talk was around 165-170. We got 195 purely because of the genius of that man. All about taking this momentum forward. Don't want to be complacent.
Washington Sundar: Chahal and I did well in the middle overs. Really happy to be part of a big win. We did expect the pitches to slow down midway through the tournament, so we both wanted to do the job. It wasn’t easy for me to hit the deck every ball but that’s where the challenge lies. I have only been working on that (accuracy) and not really looking for variations. Glad that it’s working.
Dinesh Karthik, KKR skipper : ABD is a world-class player. He is hard to stop. He was the difference between the two teams. We tried everything. The only ball was the perfect inswinging yorker. Anything else was going. We need to sit down. There are a few things we need to do better. Even if we had restricted them to 175, there are a few things we need to do better the batting.
HIGHLIGHTS
KKR 112/9 after 20 overs:
RCB have done a real number on KKR tonight. Udana bowls the last over and gives only four runs away to seal the deal.
KKR 108/9 after 19 overs: Nagarkoti looks to play it across the line and ends up dragging the 142kmph delivery onto the wood to gift Morris his second wicket. The batsman departs for four.
KKR 104/8 after 18 overs: Kolkata enters triple digits but that isn't changing the side's fortunes tonight. Saini keeps things tight. Only five off that over. There is a call for the third umpire to check whether a catch had been successfully pouched by Kohli at short midwicket, but turns out that a part of the ball was grounded. Varun is safe.
KKR 99/8 after 17 overs: Morris takes a stunning catch, diving forward at long-on, to send Tripathi back to the dugout, after the batsman slammed Siraj for a boundary earlier in the over. It is all but over for the Purple and Gold squad. Varun is the new man in.
KKR 95/7 after 16 overs: Chahal finishes his quota of overs, conceding only five off the last. He was only inches short of getting his second wicket as a slower ball was played straight back to him by Nagarkoti.
KKR 90/7 after 15 overs: KKR is crumbling! Padikkal holds on to it, this time, as Cummins looks to go big but ends up misfiring it to the long-off fielder. Kamlesh Nagarkoti walks out. Morris gets his first wicket of the night.
KKR 86/6 after 14 overs: Isuru Udana to bowl his first over. And Russell begins muscling it all about the park right from Ball 1. 4, 6, 4 go the first three. But all of it is shortlived as Siraj, at extra cover, takes a comfortable catch to send the big man back to the pavilion. Has RCB pushed the final nail to the Knights' coffin? The KKR dugout looks devastated. Pat Cummins is at the crease now.
KKR 71/5 after 13 overs: Padikkal, otherwise having a safe pair of hands, drops Dre Russ at long off! Is that a costly mistake? Only time will tell. Only two runs come off that over. Time for the strategic timeout!
KKR 69/5 after 12 overs: The spinners are wreaking havoc! Washi removes Morgan, while the England captain was looking to hit it over extra cover. He ended up playing it straight to Isuru Udana at short third man. Rahul Tripathi comes to the crease.
KKR 64/4 after 11 overs: Chahal to bowl his third even as the run rate continues to creep up for the Knights. RCB tightening the screws now as the Knights continue to fall like a pack of cards... Chahal drags it on outside off - a flighted googly - and Karthik gets the underedge onto the furniture.
KKR 61/3 after 10 overs: Washi bowling quicker through the air, keeping it back of a length, and that is causing all kinds of problems for Morgan. AND GONE! A poor judgement from Shubman sees him well short of the crease as de Villiers whips the bails off. Morgan, now accompanied by his skipper DK, ends the over on a positive note, driving the penultimate ball for a boundary through extra cover.
KKR 54/2 after 9 overs: And Gill was as good as gone and it would have been two off two for Bangalore! Finch, a terrific fielder in general, has gifted Gill a lifeline by dropping a dolly at long on. Is RCB going to pay for the errors, now that they've managed to drop the opener twice? RCB also takes a review later for caught behind, but replays showed the ball had lobbed off Morgan's forearm.
KKR 51/2 after 8 overs: Washi's back and spin continues to operate in tandem. The strategy is helping Kohli and Co. put the brakes on the run flow. And no, no, no, it wasn't just about the economy. Nitish Rana departs, trying to finish the over with a biggie, but misses the line of the delivery completely as it crashes into the off stump. Eoin Morgan walks out to the middle.
KKR 46/1 after 7 overs: With the wicket slowing down further with each ball now, it would be interesting to see how Yuzvendra Chahal fares tonight. We see a hint of turn already. Interesting stat: Chahal also has the highest average turn in IPL 2020 among the spinners: 3.1 degrees.
KKR 43/1 after 6 overs: Washington Sundar has been one of the most economical bowlers of IPL 2020. He keeps his track record intact as Kohli plays spin, conceding only four runs. A strategic timeout has been taken at the end of the PowerPlay.
KKR 39/1 after 5 overs: Impeccable timing from Rana, this. It was short and on the line of leg stump and Rana has flicked this away beautifully, utilising Siraj's pace while executing the shot. Gill finishes the over on an excellent note slamming a boundary first between mid-on and midwicket and then cutting one over short third man for a maximum.
KKR 23/1 after 4 overs: Gill backs away and smashes Saini through the covers off the very first ball of the over. That was hit really, really hard and makes the ropes in no time. The bowler bounces right back and cleans Banton up with a 148kmph scorcher - an inside edge onto the stumps. Kohli is a delighted captain and why wouldn't he be? Nitish Rana to accompany Gill at the other end.
KKR 16/0 after 3 overs: Mohammed Siraj, who has been brought in tonight for Gurkeerat Singh Mann, is into the attack. The extra bouncer is causing Banton problems. There is an overthrow and Gill, surprisingly, doesn't steal a run. Kohli and AB would have run two on that occasion, in all probability!
KKR 12/0 after 2 overs: Navdeep Saini starts off with a wide. Finch, later, makes a diving stop at cover point to deny Banton a boundary off what had looked like a glorious cover drive. Gill, meanwhile, has been dropped on five by Saini off his own bowling. It was hit too hard and although the Karnal pacer stuck out his arm, he failed to latch onto it.
KKR 7/0 after 1 over: Banton's off the mark, courtesy an edge, straightaway. And Gill picks up the first boundary off a poor, poor delivery from Morris - strays down leg side and a flick sees the ball race away to the fence.
- A brief pep talk from Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers sees the RCB boys up and running! Debutant Tom Banton and Shubman Gill to open for KKR. Chris Morris to lead the RCB attack from the front.
KKR INNINGS
WHAT THEY SAID
Aaron Finch: I think in the last couple of innings, I was going too hard. I tried getting my head forward and into the line of the ball. It became a bit tougher, they bowled the cutters and the slower balls, it became tough to hit. At one stage, we thought 180 was a good score on this ground. We'll have to bowl well, they will come hard at us. He (Kohli) always keeps you on your toes (while running between the wickets).
RCB 194/2 after 20 overs: ABD goes exploring between extra cover and long-off; SIX to start the over off. Two balls later, he hits a four to deep backward point and to make things worse the no-ball siren goes off, immediately after. Two runs come off the Free Hit. With Kohli on strike off the last ball, RCB could only manage a single to bring up the 100-run partnership between Kohli and de Villiers. 83 runs have come off the final five overs.
RCB 177/2 after 19 overs: Kohli gets his first boundary after 25 balls and he celebrates that with a fist pump. 12 from Prasidh's over. ABD to be on strike in the last over. Are we in for a show?
RCB 165/2 after 18 overs: Russell is in to do some damage control. But when ABD is hitting it right out the middle nothing works against him, does it? He welcomes Dre Russ with a four towards midwicket off another full toss and follows it up with a mammoth SIX straight down the ground to bring up his fifty in only 23 deliveries.
RCB 148/2 after 17 overs: This is precisely the stage Kohli put his foot down in Dubai the other night and Cummins, who will bowl out, will be aware of that. But all of that doesn't matter to ABD, does it? First ball he faces - six downtown, second ball - four over mid-wicket, third and fourth ball - dots, fifth ball - a flat six off a full toss, sixth ball - takes a single to keep strike. He has already moved up to 43 off 21 deliveries.
RCB 129/2 after 16 overs: ABD takes the aerial route now. Stays in his crease, waits for Nagarkoti's slower ball and goes KABOOM! Seems like he isn't done yet and follows it up with another maximum - same area, different projectile. The South African ends the over on a superb note as well, hitting a boundary through backward square leg. Time for a strategic timeout and KKR bowlers to figure out how things would work in the death.
RCB 111/2 after 15 overs: Four off this Varun over as well. How long till two of T20 cricket's most explosive batsmen start to go after the bowlers? Meanwhile, Tom Banton saves another boundary at deep backward point. KKR has come back well in the field as well, one might say.
RCB 107/2 after 14 overs: Kohli and ABD won't go hammer and tongs just yet. Both continue to rotate strike throughout the over. Nagarkoti has been superb tonight! He has predominantly stuck to his cutters and not bowled the seam-up deliveries - and that has worked wonders, thus far. Only 18 runs off his three overs.
RCB 99/2 after 13 overs: Finch welcomes Prasidh back, backing away to hammer a stylish boundary between mid-off and extra cover. Finch makes room for himself again off the very next delivery but Prasidh has bowled it fuller this time to make a mess of the woodwork. AB de Villiers makes it to the middle.
RCB 90/1 after 12 overs: Nagarkoti is doing an excellent job - deceiving the batters with his slower deliveries. Both Kohli and Finch are finding it extremely difficult to accelerate.
RCB 86/1 after 11 overs: Kohli and Finch are converting the singles into doubles. This is good running between the wickets by two champions of the game. Some sloppy work in the field by KKR only helps RCB's cause.
RCB 78/1 after 10 overs: Nagarkoti will be bowling to Kohli. Oh, this must be a test of nerves for the young lad. But he does well and so does Tom Banton at the cow corner on two occasions to keep it down to a run a ball.
RCB 72/1 after 9 overs: Finch being troubled by a spinner yet again as Varun resumes his duties. There are two leg-before appeals this over as well but the umpire never seemed interested. Kohli tries to get the last ball through covers but an excellent dive by Eoin Morgan keeps it down to just a single.
RCB 69/1 after 8 overs: Swing and a miss and Dre Russ strikes! He gets rid of Padikkal's middle stump to bag 300 wickets in T20s. The allrounder has been hitting all the right line and lengths and this was coming, sooner or later, if you ask me. Skipper Kohli walks in after a strategic timeout. Russell welcomes him with a bouncer - a tad too high at that and the umpire signals a wide.
RCB 58/0 after 7 overs: We will have an over of spin. Varun Chakravarthy goes for a boundary after we see another misfield near the ropes by Shubman Gill. What should have been a single goes for a boundary. KKR looking absolutely clueless even as Karthik keeps shouting out instructions to Varun in Tamil.
RCB 47/0 after 6 overs: Nagarkoti has dropped Finch! This IPL has never failed to surprise me when it comes to the efforts on the field. We have seen some extraordinary catches being taken but at the same time we have seen fielders drop sitters; one too many of the latter. Nagarkoti, who is otherwise known for his great fielding skills, has let this go through his fingers at short fine leg. Russell, meanwhile, is mixing it up well - slower/ shorter/ quicker ones. He even gets one on Finch's visor.
RCB 41/0 after 5 overs: Cummins has already been summoned to bowl his third. And this has turned out to be the most economical over of the night for KKR, until now. Only four of it.
RCB 37/0 after 4 overs: Prasidh to continue the attack from the other end. Finch, interestingly, has been stepping out to face the short odd 140+kmphs tonight, until now. The pacer pitches it up to Padikkal and he lifts it over the infield for a four. And he goes again off the very next delivery - there is no fine leg and Padikkal uses it to his advantage to work it away to that zone. The youngster is surely in the form of his life!
RCB 27/0 after 3 overs: The new ball, thus far, has been sliding on to the bat nicely. Padikkal goes after Cummins now, hitting him over the extra cover region for a boundary. The pacer has a few words for the opener but that doesn't seem to deter the 20-year-old from Edappal to push for almost what can be called an action replay of the previous four.
RCB 19/0 after 2 overs: Prasidh Krishna bowling it straight and short. Both the openers keep working it down leg side until the Karnataka pacer goes for a fuller delivery and Finch whacks it over his head and out of the park for the first maximum of the night! How many ball changes are we going to witness tonight?
RCB 8/0 after 1 over: Finchy to face Cummo - a mouthwatering Aussie vs Aussie contest! A flick to the onside for a boundary gets the scoreboard ticking for the Men in Red. Cummins comes round the wicket for left-handed Padikkal, who gets off the mark with a single straightaway.
- The umpires are making their way out. Speedster Pat Cummins having a bit of a chat with the Knights before they take the field. Devdutt Padikkal and Aaron Finch to start proceedings for RCB.
RCB INNINGS
PLAYING XI
Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik (w/c), Tom Banton, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy
Royal Challengers Bangalore : Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (w), Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
WHAT THEY SAID
Dinesh Karthik, KKR captain: I'm happy to have lost the toss. Might have batted first as well. It's important that the bowlers believe in themselves, like it happened in the KXIP match where they dominated us for almost 39 overs. Banton is a special player. He replaces Sunil Narine.
Virat Kohli, RCB captain: We will bat first. It is a high scoring ground, the pitch might become slower and slower. Scores are coming down in the last couple of games. There's no grass on the surface, so it can get scuffed up. We're confident in our bowling, it's important to execute our plans, Chris Morris was a huge plus. We have spoken about partnerships, a good start will help us more. One change - Siraj comes in for Mann, gives us an extra bowling option on a small ground like this.
TOSS
PITCH REPORT
- Good news
for the KKR fans - Andre Russell can be seen sweating it out on the field. Will we get to watch him in action tonight? Although, he hasn't been in top form this season, he has had some very good outings against RCB, ICYMI.
MATCH PREVIEW BY
SHIVANSH GUPTA
Expect the big-hitters to rule the roost in Sharjah when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) square off in Match 28 of the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) in a bid to consolidate their positions in the top half of the table.
The build-up
Bangalore has endured a mixed start to its season in the UAE. After beating Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in its opening fixture, it suffered a heavy 97-run defeat at the hands of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in game two. However, the side bounced back with two consecutive victories, against Mumbai Indians (MI) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), before going down to a strong Delhi Capitals (DC) side. Now, it goes into its seventh league game on the back of a fine 37-run win against three-time champion Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
The Virat Kohli-led side, which currently sits fourth in the points table, has at times struggled in the closing stages of an innings. Despite boasting a strong top order with the likes of AB de Villiers, Aaron Finch and skipper Kohli himself, the Men in Red have failed to accelerate towards the end on a few occasions.
On the other hand, Navdeep Saini has been their most effective bowler at the death, except for an expensive outing against DC. With Chris Morris’ return and Yuzvendra Chahal’s remarkable form, the bowling line-up looks more balanced and complete.
Its opponent, the Kolkata-based outfit, will be eyeing a hat-trick of wins, having pulled off successive heists against CSK and KXIP in its previous matches. Dinesh Karthik and Co. seemed to be heading towards a certain loss at one point in both the encounters before their bowlers showed great discipline at the death to snatch victories from the jaws of defeat.
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KKR, currently third in the points table, lost its opening game to MI before taking full points from its next two games against SRH and RR, respectively. The opening pair of Rahul Tripathi and Shubman Gill has showed promise. However, KKR will have selection woes going into the match with Andre Russell getting injured in the last game and Sunil Narine's bowling action being reported. Chris Green is likely to replace Russell, while Karthik may bring in Kuldeep Yadav for Narine.
England’s limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan and captain Karthik add value to the middle order. Pat Cummins leads the bowling departement and has able company in Varun Chakravarthy and Prasidh Krishna, who starred with a three-wicket haul against KXIP.
Key men
An in-form Kohli makes RCB look even more dominant. The Indian skipper scored an unbeaten 90 in the last match and has more than 200 runs under his belt from his last three outings. He, along with star opener Devdutt Padikkal, have the potential to turn the game around on their day. Chris Morris’ three for 19 is an encouraging sign as his experience can prove handy towards the end.
KKR’s Gill and Varun Chakravarthy have been impressive and it will be interesting to see how Morgan fares in Sharjah. Cummins has gotten off to a rough start with the ball and the Knights will bank on his experience on a small Sharjah ground.
WATCH EPISODE 1 OF SPORTSTAR'S NEWEST SERIES
T20 TIME FEATURING YUVRAJ SINGH
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
The two teams have faced each other 24 times in the IPL so far, with KKR holding a 14-10 head-to-head win/loss record over RCB.
Last season, Kolkata and Bangalore shared a victory each when they faced off. In the first outing, Knight Riders chased down 206 while Bangalore successfully defended 213 in the reverse fixture. Captain Virat Kohli's 58-ball century had guided the side to a 10-run victory.
During IPL 2014's UAE leg, KKR had faced off against RCB in Sharjah where the former won the encounter by just two runs.
LISTEN IN
Overall, the Knight Riders have won the IPL twice and also reached a Champions League T20 (CLT20) final. Bangalore has lost three IPL finals and one CLT20 summit clash.
West Indies and Kolkata all-rounder, Andre Russell, has always enjoyed playing against Bangalore, scoring 323 runs at an average of 53.83 and strike rate of 227.46.
On the other hand, Kohli has accumulated 647 runs at an average of 37.44 and strike rate of 131.64 versus KKR, while RCB pacer Umesh Yadav has taken 13 wickets in nine outings against the men in purple.
PREDICTED XI
RCB: Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers (WK), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Isuru Udana, Chris Morris, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal
KKR: Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (C/WK), Chris Green, Pat Cummins, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy, Kamlesh Nagarkoti
TOP FIVE PLAYERS WITH MOST POINTS IN FANTASY SQUADS
1. Pat Cummins (KKR) - 84.5 points
2. Sunil Narine (KKR) - 79 points
3. Devdutt Padikkal (RCB) - 79 points
4. Yuzvendra Chahal (RCB) - 75 points
5. Navdeep Saini (RCB) - 73 points
NUMBER-CRUNCHING
- Highest run-getter: KL Rahul (387)
- Highest wicket-taker: Kagiso Rabada (17)
- Highest individual score: KL Rahul (132*)
- Best bowling figures: Jasprit Bumrah (4/20)
- Best economy: Chris Morris (4.75)
- Most fours: KL Rahul (37)
- Most sixes: Sanju Samson and Nicholas Pooran (16)
- Fastest ball: Jofra Archer (153.62 kmph)
- Fastest fifty: Nicholas Pooran (17 balls)
- Fastest century: Mayank Agarwal (45 balls)
IPL 2020 POINTS TABLE
WHERE TO WATCH IPL 2020 - ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE VS KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS LIVE?
The Indian Premier League match Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders will be broadcast live on
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