Highlights IPL 2018, RCB vs DD at Bengaluru, Full Cricket Score: AB de Villiers steers Bangalore to six-wicket win

AB de Villiers: Some of the nights when you see the ball well. You don’t often get that, you got to cash in when it happens. Didn’t happen in last two games. Tonight I saw it early.When you do get on top of the bowler, you have to take it down. Best crowd in the world love playing here. Must say that when you do get into the zone, it is a buzz. Tonight it was just a buzz. Hopefully many more runs to come.

Virat Kohli, Royal Challengers Bangalore captain: I think this 30 runs is much bigger than 90 I got in last game. 2 points very crucial here, still few areas we need to correct. Happy memories tonight. We understand each other’s game. My job was to stay there. Pity I could not stay there till the end. He (AB) comes in and changes the whole complexion of the game, that is why de Villiers is the best in the world. In IPL, you see such catches. You feel bad getting out on them. Hats off to Trent. Plus is till the 15 the over mark we were spot on with the ball. We can still rectify some areas. RCB crowd have always cheered for us. If the team believes, the crowd believes as well. They always come out in huge numbers.

AB de Villiers is the Man of the Match

AB de Villiers played one of the best T20 knocks today and while all other teams are thinking of how to deal with him in remainder of the tournament, Ben Stokes already has a simple solution.

Gautam Gambhir, Delhi Daredevils captain: He took the  game away from us. 175 was a good effort from the batsmen. The pitch was a bit tacky in the first six overs, Shreyas and Rishabh were unbelievable. At one stage we were thinking of 150-155. AB took the game away, we were just one-wicket away from winning the game. Spinners could have bowled better to him. At that stage we could have get, he took his chances and did well. Unbelievable. The best catch I have ever seen, because it was off his wrong hand as well. I would be lying if I say I am not concerned. Hopefully we can turn it around when we get back home. It’s tough being on the road and end up losing. All the teams are pretty clumped together. If you look at the points table it is close. We just have to push in with them

AB de Villiers… what an absolute superman… For a moment you have to wonder about Rishabh Pant’s knock… it was almost a knock of certainty for the youngster and it gave Delhi something to fight for. But he has been upstaged by a giant of world cricket. And there is no shame in that. The Daredevils weren’t abject but you can only applaud when you go down to AB like that!

ABD smashes DD into submission. 90 in 39 balls. 10 fours 5 sixes

After 18 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 176/4 ( AB de Villiers 90 , Mandeep Singh 17)

That’s a wrap for today from AB de Villiers who single-handedly guided his team to six-wicket win over a disdain Delhi Daredevils. Two boundaries in the last over. There were so many magical moments in this innings. One of the matches where you want to highlights over and over again.

RCB win by 6 wickets. De villiers drives it for a beautiful boundary through the covers.

FOUR! Boult, round the wicket, pitches it short, angling into de Villiers, who ramps it for a boundary to third-man

Trent Boult bowls his last over.

Look at that upward curve, that is the difference ABD provides his side when he is mood.

After 17 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 163/4 ( AB de Villiers 81 , Mandeep Singh 13)

Gautam Gambhir looks stunned here and that is what de Villiers does to you. The shoulders of the Delhi players are down. Kohli’s wicket was a booster of hope but de Villiers absolutely snatched this away from visitors. More trouble for Delhi as Roy has injured himself trying stop a boundary. Hope nothing is serious about the injury.

FOUR! Mandeep goes big this time, does not connect well, the ball bounces near the ropes and races away. Roy trying to stop it has injured himself.

SIX! Ball takes the top edge off Mandeep’s bat and flies behind the keeper for a maximum.

After 16 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 149/4 ( AB de Villiers 80 , Mandeep Singh 1)

Boult into the attack and he has bowled a high full-toss, which Anderson dispatched for a six. But he gets is revenge soon. Deja vu as RCB escaped another blunderous run-out and then lost a wicket. 26 needed off 24 balls. RCB should not worry here.

OUT! Clean Bowled as Trent Boult uproots the leg stump of Corey Anderson. Too late, it seems.  Corey Anderson b Boult 15(13)

ABD has really set the stands on fire. Everytime he slams the ball to the fence the stadium rocks to the music of “we will we will rock you”. Then cheers of ABD, ABD rents the air

Madness. Absolute madness. How do you bowl to AB de Villiers?! You don’t. You give up if you are a bowler… Madness!

SIX! Full-toss to Anderson and he dispatches it over deep mid-wicket for a maximum

Boult back into the attack

After 15 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 140/3 ( AB de Villiers 79 , Corey Anderson 8)

Morris is back and Anderson doing the right thing, rotaing the stroke and giving more and more balls to de Villiers to play. The Protea is doing what he does best, punishing the bowler. RCB need 35 off 30 balls. This is a storm that has taken the Daredevilry out of Delhi.

FOUR! On the leg stump line and near hip region, cake walk for de Villiers as he guides it for a boundary.

SIX! Morris bowls a fullish one and this is foolish as well. De Villiers opens arm and goes straight, BANG, into the second tier of the stand

After 14 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 126/3 ( AB de Villiers 68 , Corey Anderson 6)

Tewatia is back with his third over. The way de Villiers is playing it seems he is dealing with school kids here. Delhi takes a sigh of relief every time de Villiers takes a single. Match slipping out of visitors’ hands if this carnage continues.

SIX! Full in length and guess what de Villiers would do with it. Hit it for a maximum to deep mid-wicket.

Rahul Tewatia continues

After 13 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 115/3 ( AB de Villiers 60 , Corey Anderson 3)

Harshal Patel continues his third over and AB de Villiers continues his dominance in the game. He is playing with the bowlers rather than just playing them, hitting almost at will.

SIX! Unreal, De Villiers sits and hits it over the backward square leg for a huge one. Phew!

This is where Kohli and AB, mainly AB, scored their runs. 

FOUR! Walks across and then changes his mind and goes big over the covers. Boundary as a result and that’s a fifty for him!

SIX! Sits and delivers a maximum to deep mid wicket

After 12 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 103/3 ( AB de Villiers 49 Anderson 2 , )

Rahul Tewatia is back on and instantly, Kohli’s fall of wicket has made de Villiers a little cautious. Tewatis is getting odd bounce from the pitch as well. Is this Chinnaswamy really?

Stunner. Stunner. Absolute stunner… That’s you get the best batsman in the world out… Absolute ripper from Boult and even he didn’t know how he took that much less Virat or anyone else…

Brilliant catch by Trent Boult. Superb presence of mind to hold such a catch and not tip over the boundary. Outstanding. Kohli gutted by the dismissal to a full toss

Rahul Tewatia is back on

After 11 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 92/3 ( AB de Villiers 40 , )

Harshal Patel back on and he is being into pressure here. De Villiers was picking his slower ones very easily now and choosing his spot to hit. Kohli did that too but was stunned by a great catch. Even greatness cannot define what Boult did near the boundary ropes tonight.

OUT! What was that. Boult pulls out a blinder. On the legs and Kohli flicks it, the ball appears to be going above the fine leg fielder but all of a sudden Boult grabs it flying in the air and falls just above the boundary ropes, his jersey almost touching the ropes. Kohli c Boult b Harshal Patel 30(26)

FOUR! On the legs, and De Villiers pelts it to backward square leg. What a shot

Harshal Patel continues

After 10 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 82/2 ( Virat Kohli (C) 27 , AB de Villiers 33)

Rahul Tewatia has been introduced. De Villiers is already looking to target him. That was some shot to hit a six. Huge challenge ahead for the young man in this match.

RCB’s best batsmen Kohli and ABD at work. ABD going aggressive while Kohli holding his end. No end of consultation between the two. RCB need both to fire.

SIX! Just a tad short and de Villiers rocks on to back foot and goes big over the deep-midwicket region into the stands.

Rahul Tewatia, right-arm leg break, into the attack

After 9 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 72/2 ( Virat Kohli (C) 25 , AB de Villiers 25)

Harshal Patel into the attack now. He could be the bowler Kohli-de Villiers may go after. He is using slower ones to good effect. Kohli suggested de Villiers to watch out for it but Harshal surprised the South African with a yorker. Need some heart to do it. The fact that Harshal spent many years with Kohli and de Villiers at RCB is helping his cause.

AB de Villiers has changed this. Delhi are already on the backfoot. And it’s just been three overs. Impact!

Harshal Patel, right-arm medium, into the attack

After 8 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 66/2 ( Virat Kohli (C) 22 , AB de Villiers 23)

Chris Morris is back into the attack and Kohli again flicks him off the first ball of the over. Morris mixing it up really well at the moment. Good short balls, slower ones and yorkers. 9 came from it.

FOUR! Morris pitches it full and Kohli flicks it for a boundary

After 7 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 57/2 ( Virat Kohli (C) 15 , AB de Villiers 21)

Nadeem is back and de Villiers has gone after him. Three back to back fours and the youngster is already under pressure. Don’t think he will come back till Delhi sees the back of de Villiers.

FOUR! Short ball and again de Villiers uses his force to get a boundary!

FOUR! Short ball and this time de Villiers rocks on the back foot and smashes it to deep mid-wicket.

FOUR! Another sweep shot from de Villiers as the ball runs to the square leg boundary like a bullet.

Nadeem continues…

After 6 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 43/2 ( Virat Kohli (C) 14 , AB de Villiers 8)

Morris introduced into the attack. And he has outfoxed Kohli on almost every delivery, except the one where Kohli anticipated the full-length and flicked him for six.

SIX! This shot was coming. Kohli draws himself forward and flicks it to deep mid-wicket for a maximum.

After 5 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 37/2 ( Virat Kohli (C) 8 , AB de Villiers 8)

Shahbaz Nadeem, brought into the attack. He almost got Kohli on the second ball of the over but de Kock and Kohli made a mockery of running between the wickets on the next ball, resulting in de Kock’s run-out. De Villiers the next man in is already on fire with two back to back fours.

With Virat and slow partners at the other end… There is always a chance of run out. Comedy of errors and Delhi have been gifted a wicket. They are now on the attack.

Awful confusion between Kohli striker and Quinton de Kock non striker. Mix up saw de Kock getting run out. Huge wicket. RCB certainly on back foot. Ball is gripping and turning for spinners

FOUR! De Villiers clears his front leg and lofts it inside out over the covers.

FOUR! De Villiers off the mark with a boundary. He sweepts the straight delivery to square leg boundary

AB de Villiers, right-hand bat, is the next man in.

OUT! And right after the reprieve to Kohli, RCB makes another blunder. No communication between de kock and Kohli as they try to take an impossible single. Kohli calls for it. De Kock was not ready and hence, the left-handed batsman falling short by big margin. de Kock run out (Vijay Shankar/Pant) 18(16)

FOUR! Damn, this was close. The ball takes the edge and lands in between first slip and keeper. Delhi fielders yell in disgust. Ball races for a boundary.

Shahbaz Nadeem, left-arm orthodox, into the attack

After 4 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 24/1 ( Quinton de Kock (W) 17 , Virat Kohli (C) 4)

Maxwell continues and he is doing a good job. unlike his batting, he is keeping things simple. He was hit for a six but he made de Kock put a lot of effort to get those six runs. 9 from the last over.

SIX! Maxwell tosses it up and de Kock sweeps it for a huge one to backward square leg.

Maxwell continues

After 3 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 15/1 ( Quinton de Kock (W) 9 , Virat Kohli (C) 3)

Boult is back on. Quinton de Kock is playing beautifully but not finding the boundaries and some credit for it has to go to Gambhir who is on point with the field placements.

The Manan Vohra experiment has not gone well. Poor shot to find the lone man deep on the leg side. Off spinner Maxwell strikes gold operating with new ball.

Interesting that Maxwell opened the bowling. And despite that Delhi have kept things tight… And just as I type this Vohra is out caught as well. Suddenly it’s a sensational start.

Trent Boult resumes

After 2 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 9/1 ( Quinton de Kock (W) 6 , )

Some creativity from Gambhir as brings Glenn Maxwell into the attack from the other end. Nothing special from him, just simple off-spin. But it was enough to get the first wicket. Great start for Delhi.

OUT! Manan Vohra falls into trap and slog-sweeps Maxwell. The ball flies in the air and Jason Roy takes a good catch. The third umpire has a look but there is no confusion. That was a clean catch. Delhi draw first blood. Vohra, out Caught by Roy!! Vohra c Roy b Maxwell 2(5)

Glenn Maxwell, right-arm off spin from the other end. That’s a surprise.

After 1 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 5/0 ( Quinton de Kock (W) 5 , Manan Vohra 0)

Trent Boult with the first over in the chase. And he is bang on target from the very first ball. Gets hit on the third ball but it was more because of de Kock’s brilliance. Daredevils look charged in the field, goes on to show how badly they need this win. Huge appeal on the last ball but to no avail. 5 from the over.

FOUR! Very little room and that was enough for de kock as he hits a beautiful cover drive

Trent Boult, left-arm pace, will bowl the first over.

Plaudits come from all corners for the youngster

That innings was as good as I have seen Rishabh Pant bat. Earlier seemed to be a young man in a hurry but this was very mature and he paced it really well.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 21, 2018

So, here we are again, back with the chase. Quinton de Kock and Manan Vohra are walking to the middle. de kock will take the strike.

Here are the areas where Pant scored his runs. A typical innings from the youngster, favouring the legside while hitting those long hits.

Here is a Manhanttan of Delhi Daredevils’ innings

Fantastic Pant 

Pant was simply outstanding today. He looked in touch on previous few occasions but it is in this match that he came into his own. He connected well and more importantly took his game one level up at a time when his team needed it the most.  Now it is upon the Delhi bowlers to deliver the goods. Can they defend 175 on this track? We will know shortly. Stay tuned!

After 20 overs,Delhi Daredevils 174/5 ( Rahul Tewatia 13 , Chris Morris 0)

Corey Anderson with the last over. Pant smokes him for a six but he gets him on the next ball. Delhi ends with 174 for 5 and it never looked like they will get there. Great batting from Pant.

Masterful masterful knock from Pant… He broke onto the scene last year… But this has to be his growing up knock… Should change the way people look at him and how he looks at his game… Not go slam bang from the start but take his time… Because as we have just seen he can be devastating.

FOUR! Rahul Tewatia gets cheeky this time and reshuffles to scoops the ball pitched at off-stump line to fine-leg.

OUT! And a wonderful inning comes to an end. Pant perishes as he hits one into the sky but this time ball won’t travel too far and is caught by de Villiers at mid-on. Pant c de Villiers b Corey Anderson 85(48)

SIX! That is brutal and Pant goes full throttle and dispatches it into the skies.

Corey Anderson to bowl the last over.

After 19 overs,Delhi Daredevils 163/4 ( Rishabh Pant (W) 79 , Rahul Tewatia 9)

Woakes completes his 4 overs and he started off with a six of the first ball. He followed it up with two dots. But Pant was crazy and smart enough to outdo him in the competition. Great over for Delhi. 18 runs off it.

FOUR! Pant again shiffles across the off-stump and hits it to fine leg.

FOUR! That was smart and that was intelligent. Pant tries scooping to the leg side but adjusts in time to open the blade to the third-man region.

FOUR! Leg-byes, Pant tries to hook Woakes, the ball takes the deflection of thigh pad and jumps over de Kock to four.

Fifty for Pant… Great knock this. Single handedly kept Daredevils afloat… 150 is on the horizon. And another 12 balls to go… If he can push a bit more, RCB might be worried about chasing this.

Dew and a wet ball is not making things easy for the bowlers in the slog over. Gripping the ball and bowling with some control is becoming tough. Width and full tosses are being clobbered by Rishabh Pant, stocky hard hitting batsman. Crucial runs

SIX! Pant continues his clean striking, pitched full and he goes over the extra-cover boundary. Poor bowling

Woakes is back on.

After 18 overs,Delhi Daredevils 145/4 ( Rishabh Pant (W) 65 , Rahul Tewatia 9)

Siraj is brought back and gets hit for a six. Long chat with captain Kohli after that hit. There was a little competition between two young chaps. Siraj bounced a few and then pant hit him for a huge one in the penultimate ball of the over. 15 from the over.

SIX! OUTSTANDING. Pant hits it straight to long-off, on the up and mind you, it was a slower one. Brilliant hit

SIX! Siraj bowls this on Pant’s leg and he flicks it for a beautiful six.

After 17 overs,Delhi Daredevils 130/4 ( Rishabh Pant (W) 52 , Rahul Tewatia 9)

Chris Woakes is back and has been hit for a boundary on the very first ball. Three boundaries, in fact, in the over and all by Pant. This is a good innings by Pant who has looked in great touch throughout the tournament. Important  3 overs for Delhi here.

FOUR! Pant pulls and the ball travels to backward square leg. This is FIFTY for the left-handed batsman.

FOUR! Not convincing again but runs flowing. Ball takes the edge and almost caught at mid-off. The ball races away for four after the fielder fails to catch it.

FOUR! Boundary off the first ball. Not too convincing though as the ball takes the edge off Pant’s bat and races away to third-man.

Chris Woakes is back on

After 16 overs,Delhi Daredevils 117/4 ( Rishabh Pant (W) 48 , Rahul Tewatia 0)

Yuzvendra is brought back. Maxwell’s experiments again failing him and his team. That reverse-sweep was not really needed. Pant has not learned anything as he tries one too and is successful at it. 2 sixes to finish the over.

SIX! And another one from Pant’s willow. Back to back sixes from him as he reverse-sweeps it for a maximum.

SIX! Ball tossed up and Pant comes forward to dispatch it to long-on!

Maxwell dismissal at this stage is disastrous for DD. He could have clobbered the bowling in the slog overs. Kohli saved Chahal’s overs only for Maxwell and it has paid off handsomely. Reverse sweep did him in.

Quite a silly review by RCB. Siraj bowling over the wicket to a left hander could never have got him lbw from that angle. Yet DRS was used. Ball pitched at least 8 inches beyond leg stump. Wasted review.

OUT! Maxwell tries a reverse-sweep but fails big time. The ball takes the edge off the bat and Siraj catches it diving at short third-man. Maxwell c Siraj b Chahal 4(6)

Decent spell from Washington Sundar

Bit more urgency about Delhi’s shot making now. Maxwell will be key as to where they finish off. 150 would be a good total to play with. RCB are known to be fallible if you get their big guns.

Yuzvendra Chahal back on

After 15 overs,Delhi Daredevils 103/3 ( Rishabh Pant (W) 35 , Glenn Maxwell 3)

Siraj continues. A good over from him. Five come off it. In fact, Kohli also reviewed on the final ball for an LBW decision. But the ball was pitching outside leg.

Crucial knock from Shreyas Iyer who has given Delhi an opportunity to post a competitive total in Bengaluru

After 14 overs,Delhi Daredevils 98/3 ( Rishabh Pant (W) 34 , Glenn Maxwell 0)

An expensive last four spoils Washington Sundar’s figures. 14 come in the over. Washington’s figures: 4-0-31-1.

OUT! Soft dismissal. Very soft. Shreyas Iyer must be fuming. A nothing delivery from Washington. Bowls it wide and full outside off, Shreyas chases it and it takes the leading edge. Siraj, positioned at short third man, pouches an easy catch. 

Shreyas Iyer c Siraj b Washington Sundar 52(31)

Fifty up for Iyer… off 29 balls. Delhi needed that. He needed that. The game needed that… even if the Daredevils are not out of the woods just yet.

FIFTY! A fine knock from Shreyas Iyer. He has pulled Delhi out fo trouble with the help of Pant. Completes the milestone with a six.

MD Siraj’s tight lines is forcing DD to improvise and go after him. His second over was spoilt by two lofted shots to untenented areas. DD batsmen are well set and need to come up with some big blows to breathe life into their innings.

12 runs off that last over from Siraj… the duo are looking to go for it now… and just as I type this… Iyer has smacked a huge six off Sundar… and make that two!

SIX! That’s a biggie. Washington tosses it around leg and Shreyas smokes it over midwicket.

After 13 overs,Delhi Daredevils 84/2 ( Shreyas Iyer 39 , Rishabh Pant (W) 33)

A brilliant over DD. This can potentially change the momentum of the innings. 12 come in the over. Also, the 50-run stand is up between Shreyas and Pant.

SIX! Once again, Siraj bowls it too full and Pant gets underneath the ball and tonks it over long off.

FOUR! Siraj overpitches and Shreyas’ eyes light up and lofts it over cover.

After 12 overs,Delhi Daredevils 72/2 ( Shreyas Iyer 34 , Rishabh Pant (W) 26)

Washington to bowl his third over. One thing has become certain, the Delhi batsmen aren’t looking to attack the spinners. They know that a wicket here would put the new batsman under a lot of pressure. Pant and Shreyas collect five singles and a leg bye off it. Six off the over.

After 11 overs,Delhi Daredevils 66/2 ( Shreyas Iyer 31 , Rishabh Pant (W) 24)

A promising stand building up between Shreyas and Pant. However they need to up the ante soon and take their chances. Eight come in Woakes’ second over.

FOUR! Woakes opts to go full and on the sticks and Pant clobbers it down the ground.

Delhi Daredevils in the opening ten overs

After 10 overs,Delhi Daredevils 58/2 ( Shreyas Iyer 30 , Rishabh Pant (W) 17)

Washington continues. Wonder what the Delhi team management may have suggested to Pant and Iyer in the strategic time-out. The ball is gripping and Delhi need to be really smart while constructing their innings. If they try to go too hard, they might end up short. 145-150 seems to be a good enough target. Five singles come in the over. Delhi 58/2 at the halfway mark.

Ball is certainly gripping on this surface. Both Chahal and Washington Sundar are getting the ball to turn, unlike in earlier matches. 8 overs of spin should cause some apprehension in DD ranks. Maybe the Indian batsmen would handle it better

After 9 overs,Delhi Daredevils 53/2 ( Shreyas Iyer 28 , Rishabh Pant (W) 14)

The planning from RCB has been quite smart in this game so far. They are targetted Roy with Chahal. And now Kohli is ending Umesh’s quota because Yadav leaks a few too many in the death. The plan may have been right but Umesh conceded 14 off his last over. 14 come off it. His figures: 4-0-27-1.

SIX! Full and on the sticks and Shreyas Iyer whips it over midwicket.

FOUR! Short and wide from Umesh. Shreyas accepts the freebie and cuts it through cover. The sweeper cover tries to cut it off but fails.

Umesh Yadav to end his quota.

After 8 overs,Delhi Daredevils 39/2 ( Shreyas Iyer 16 , Rishabh Pant (W) 12)

Washington keeps it tight in his first over. This is a good pitch for spinners to be honest. Seems like the pitch which we saw in Bengaluru last year during the IPL. Seven off the eighth over.

FOUR! Washington flights this around off, Pant seemed ready as he kneels and reverse sweeps it past backward point.

Washington Sundar to roll his arm over now.

After 7 overs,Delhi Daredevils 32/2 ( Shreyas Iyer 14 , Rishabh Pant (W) 7)

Siraj to Pant. Starts with two short balls and Pant dabs the second to third man for a single. A quiet over. Three more singles come in it. Four off the over.

And while KXIP were rounding up a victory in Kolkata, Chahal has got Roy. Not much of a battle but given the start he had to take his chances… doesn’t pay off against leg spin. Delhi in a poor state at the moment…

Roy simply had no clue as to which way ball was turning. Chahal pulled strings like a puppeteer. No surprise he was put out of his misery so quickly. Excellent powerplay overs. 28 for 2 in 6 overs

Action all round. Runs and sixes in Kolkata but almost another wicket in Bengaluru. Chahal tough for Jason Roy to read, could have been stumped first ball. We will get to see more of this rivalry in the English summer to come.

Virat Kohli introduces Mohammed Siraj into the attack.

After 6 overs,Delhi Daredevils 28/2 ( Shreyas Iyer 12 , Rishabh Pant (W) 5)

A spectacular Powerplay for RCB this. Two big wickets and only 28 runs off it. Umesh and Chahal stood out for them.

FOUR! Off the mark is Pant with some style. Slightly short from Chahal, Pant goes back and cuts it through cover.

OUT! It was on the cards, wasn’t it? Yuzvendra Chahal bowls the quicker one and Roy gives himself room to cut it through cover but misses and the ball uproots the leg stump. A superb phase of play for RCB this. 

Roy b Chahal 5(16)

RCB pacers Yadav and Woakes have bowled impressive opening overs in tandem for the first time. Yadav has gone one better with his pay bouncer that skidded onto Gambhir. He ended up skiing the hook

After 5 overs,Delhi Daredevils 22/1 ( Jason Roy 5 , Shreyas Iyer 11)

Umesh continues. Think RCB are going to give him four overs straight because he has been really expensive in the death overs. Shreyas Iyer drives ball one to mid off for a quick single. A couple of direct hits on the second delivery but both batsmen are safe. Shreyas though ends the fifth over with two boundaries and a single. 11 off the over.

FOUR! Short once again and Shreyas cuts it through cover-point.

FOUR! First boundary of the match. Short from Umesh and Iyer tickles it to fine leg.

After 4 overs,Delhi Daredevils 11/1 ( Jason Roy 4 , Shreyas Iyer 1)

Turn straightaway for Chahal. Spins one away from Roy and de Kock whips the bails off. The umpire takes it upstairs and replays show that Roy was quick to drag his back foot in the crease. Roy’s struggles against leg spin are well-documented and this is a brilliant move from Kohli to introduce him so early. Roy has not picked Chahal at all, at least in the first over. Gets beaten on the fifth ball and unsuccessfully attempts a reverse sweep on the final delivery.

Yuzvendra Chahal is into the attack.

After 3 overs,Delhi Daredevils 8/1 ( Jason Roy 4 , Shreyas Iyer 0)

Another fantastic over from Umesh Yadav. A wicket and a run off it.

RCB pacers Yadav and Woakes have bowled impressive opening overs in tandem for the first time. Yadav has gone one better with his pay bouncer that skidded onto Gambhir. He ended up skiing the hook

And “something has got to give”… Gambhir manufactures a shot and pulls to square leg for only a catch. Just like that Daredevils are one down. This wicket was coming with the kind of pressure RCB have created first up…

OUT! This was coming. Delhi Daredevils were just not able to find the boundaries. Umesh bangs it short and Gambhir looks to pull it over midwicket. Doesn’t time it at all and Chahal pouches it at midwicket. Once again, Umesh has struck in his first spell. 

Gambhir c Chahal b U Yadav 3(10)

After 2 overs,Delhi Daredevils 7/0 ( Jason Roy 3 , Gautam Gambhir (C) 3)

As straight as it gets. Roy drives one down the ground and it crashes onto the stumps at the other end. Luckily for DD, Woakes didn’t get his fingertips to it. And they collect a single. Off the third ball, Gambhir whips one off his hips through fine leg and collects a brace. Gambhir looks to pull the fourth delivery but doesn’t pick the slower delivery and cops a blow on his arm. They run a leg bye. The over ends with two singles.

Chris Woakes to bowl the second over.

One change for both sides. DD have gone with Harshal Patel for Mohd. Shami who is looking less and less a limited-overs bowler with every outing. And Manan Vohra for Sarfaraz Khan is the change for RCB, which probably means another batting order shuffle for them.

After 1 overs,Delhi Daredevils 1/0 ( Jason Roy 1 , Gautam Gambhir (C) 0)

Starts off with a length ball, outside off, Roy leaves it alone. Looks to drive the second ball on the up but inside edges it onto his pad. Collects a single. A swing and a miss for Gambhir first up. Chases a wide delivery only to connect thin air. Clips the next ball straight to square leg. Another dot from Umesh. A superb start from the Vidharba pacer so far. Four dots and a single. Ends the over with another dot. Only one off the first over.

Jason Roy and Gautam Gambhir are the Delhi Daredevils openers. Umesh Yadav to begin the proceedings for RCB.

While it is raining in the first game of the day, it is battle of the bottom-end. There is also the Virat Kohli-Gautam Gambhir rivalry to consider. 

Most of all, both teams want a return to winning ways. And they will be hoping for no rain in Bengaluru.

Delhi Daredevils: Gautam Gambhir, Jason Roy, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Glenn Maxwell, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Chris Morris, Shahbaz Nadeem, Harshal Patel, Trent Boult

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Quinton de Kock, Manan Vohra, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Corey Anderson, Washington Sundar, Chris Woakes, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

Both the teams make one change each. 

Delhi Daredevils

IN: Harshal Patel 

OUT: Mohammed Shami 

Royal Challengers Bangalore 

IN: Manan Vohra

OUT: Sarfaraz Khan

Royal Challengers Bangalore win the toss and Virat Kohli opts to field.

Harshal Patel set to debut for Delhi Daredevils against former team at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. He receives his cap from Ricky Ponting.

Umesh Yadav has bowled well in patches while Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal don’t look the force they were expected to be. It is possible that the choice of pitch (Mandya clay) which has bounce and pace has something to do with it. Batting is easier. Thus RCB’s batsmen,especially ABD, McCullum (if he returns to the playing XI), de Kock have to come to the party pretty soon. It remains to be seen whether Kohli’s favourite batsman Sarfaraz gets to play again. He has been a flop as batsman and fielder thus far.

Pitch report: Not a lot of grass cover which is a bit of concern for me. It is a very good wicket and because of the rain factor teams must be looking to field first, says Matthew Hayden at the inspection.

“Gautam comes with the experience of winning IPL twice for KKR which increases his value as a leader. That’s the beauty of it all, anybody can’t win the championship just like that. He won back-to-back championships for KKR, that’s what he brings to the table”

DD assistant coach Pravin Amre has lauded Gambhir. 

Read what he said here .

Some rain is certainly expected today. Yesterday when the teams arrived for nets a sudden cloud burst dumped lakhs of litres of water onto the ground. RCB preferred to return to the hotel. But once the rains stopped DD was able to have nets. That’s the beauty of the Sub-Air system deployed at KSCA. It can handle any amount of rains. Play can start as soon as the rains stop and the pitch covers are taken off. KSCA is so confident of the system that they cover only the pitch in order to to keep it bone dry. The other parts of the ground are left open to the elements and yet plan can start instantly. KSCA said they collected 3 lakh litres of water from rains last evening.

Both RCB and DD have a very good team, yet find themselves in a familiar position — at the bottom of the table. RCB would want this year to be different as they believe they have what it takes to be successful. The good thing is the team is not peaking too soon. The bad news is that if they don’t lift themselves up pretty fast they’d run out of momentum. The issue with RCB is they are not sure of their batting order, especially the middle order, or the bowling options while opening and at the death. Thus players don’t know their roles, as yet!

Hello and welcome to Firstpost’s coverage of the 19th match of IPL 2018, which will be played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils.