IPL 2020 Highlights, DC vs RCB Match, Full Cricket Score: Delhi Capitals win by 6 wickets, both team qualify for playoffs

Man of the Match Anrich Nortje speaks after the match:

I say it time and time again, it’s just the basics. We had everyone doing the basics right, it wasn’t down to one guy coming up with something special. Coming into this game, small things like rhythm started feeling better again, and once you get those right, it comes off well.

We were thinking about trying to make them hit towards the bigger boundaries. At the start it was difficult, in the powerplay, but we stuck to the plans we had for every batsman, and we tried to use the conditions well. There was a bit of dew at the end of our bowling.

Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer speaks after the match:

I’m very chuffed with the performance that the boys came up with today. We knew it was a do or die match for us and also an opportunity to get into second place. We’d already said that we wouldn’t think about anything else, we wouldn’t bother about the Net Run Rate, we were always focused on the win. We were really motivated.

It was a bit tougher to finish off the league stage after our good start, obviously. The teams who played well in the latter half of the season really changed the table. It’s been a really competitive season so far.

I feel that the bowlers were really good with their plans, and they executed them perfectly. Anrich Nortje came back really well tonight, we had discussions about his performances and he really came through tonight.

We don’t want to overcomplicate things now, we need to stick to our basics. It’ll come automatically, if we execute things the way we have planned in our team meetings.

Virat Kohli: “It’s a mixed bag. You come to games to try and get a result your way. Even if the game was drifting away, we controlled the middle overs well enough. I think we’ve played good enough cricket in this tournament to qualify. We have two games to the final now. We can be more brave in the back end, probably be better in the powerplay (with the ball) which has been our strength.”

Delhi Capitals win by 6 wickets!

Mohammed Siraj to bowl the penultimate over, it’s been a while since we last saw him. He starts off with a wide. There’s really no need to be giving away extras at this point of the match. Oh lord, Marcus Stoinis has hit a six, and all the pressure seems to have melted off of DC’s shoulders. He was sweating though, Chahal was jumping to catch that at the deep square boundary, but he’s just a couple of inches too short to take that. Siraj then bowls another wide, he’s intent on gifting this to DC. A double and a single follow, before Rishabh Pant wraps up the match with a boundary! A thick top edge clears the keeper AB de Villiers, but RCB are all smiles, because they know they’ve done what was needed.

SIX! Marcus Stoinis hits a massive maximum, to put Delhi Capitals 7 runs away from finishing second. DC 146/4

After 18 overs,Delhi Capitals 138/4 ( Rishabh Pant (W) 3 , Marcus Stoinis 1)

Washington Sundar is on, and all he has to do really is to not be hit for three sixes in his first three deliveries. Not a tough thing to do, but in the IPL, you never know. Double off the first ball, and then a wicket! Rahane goes in almost identical fashion to Dhawan, he tries a lap reverse and sends it to Dube at short third. It’s a good knock though, Rahane will take pleasure in knowing that he has almost assuredly taken his team to a win tonight. Marcus Stoinis comes on. Just four runs off the over, 15 runs needed in 12 balls.

Both RCB and DC have qualified now for this year’s playoffs.

Qualification Scenarios:

If SRH wins v MI then MI, DC, SRH and RCB will go through. 
If SRH loses v MI then MI, DC, RCB and KKR will go through.

OUT! Ajinkya Rahane 60 (46b). Strange that, from Rahane. He tried to play a reverse lap shot, and ends up hitting to short third.

After 17 overs,Delhi Capitals 134/3 ( Ajinkya Rahane 58 , Rishabh Pant (W) 2)

Shahbaz Ahmed will bowl his last over now. He comes up good for Bangalore, Shreyas Iyer is out! The Delhi Capitals captain tried to go big, but the shot didn’t have enough juice in it, it’s taken quite comfortable by Siraj at long on. Rishabh Pant comes on in his place. 6 runs off the over, and Shahbaz takes a well-deserved break. He was absolutely excellent tonight, a rare bright spark in the Bangalore bowling attack.

This is only the second time that Chahal has gone wicketless this IPL – both times against DC.

OUT! Shreyas Iyer 7 (9b). Shahbaz Ahmed gets his second wicket, after Iyer holes out to Siraj at long on.

After 16 overs,Delhi Capitals 128/2 ( Ajinkya Rahane 55 , Shreyas Iyer (C) 7)

Yuzvendra Chahal is out to bowl his final over. 32 runs from 30 needed for Delhi Capitals. An expensive over here could mean the end of RCB’s campaign. Can Chahal get a wicket? Can he bowl an economical over? The answer to the first question is no, but to the second, a resounding yes. Only 7 runs off the over. RCB are within touching distance of safety. Strategic timeout now.

After 15 overs,Delhi Capitals 121/2 ( Ajinkya Rahane 50 , Shreyas Iyer (C) 5)

More Shahbaz Ahmed now, Kohli’s sticking with him, and for good reason. It does look right now like RCB will be able to make DC bat long enough to ensure their place in the playoffs, barring a 16th over blitz from either Iyer or Rahane. Rahane meanwhile has brought up his fifty from 37 balls, same as Shikhar Dhawan.

FIFTY! A mature, reserved innings from Ajinkya Rahane results in a 50 off of 37 balls.

After 14 overs,Delhi Capitals 115/2 ( Ajinkya Rahane 46 , Shreyas Iyer (C) 3)

Can Shreyas Iyer slot in next to Rahane and close this match out for the Delhi Capitals? Yuzvendra Chahal is sent to bowl the fourteenth over, he’s not had the best of days so far but he’s always dangerous. It’s another okay-ish over from the spinner, six runs off it.

After 13 overs,Delhi Capitals 109/2 ( Ajinkya Rahane 42 , Shreyas Iyer (C) 1)

Shahbaz gets to bowl a second straight over, and why not, after his first one went for just five runs. Can he recreate that? Appears not, he’s absolutely hammered for 6 over long-off by Ajinkya Rahane! That was huge! Oh no, Shikhar Dhawan’s out! He tried to be cute with a shot, but he ended up lapping it to Shivam Dube at short fine. Could this take the wind out of DC’s sails?

OUT! Shikhar Dhawan 54 (41b). Soft dismissal for Shikhar Dhawan this, he tries to be clever but lifts a shot straight into the hands of Dube at short fine.

SIX! Ajinkya Rahane unleashes a monstrous maximum over long-off! DC 106/1

After 12 overs,Delhi Capitals 99/1 ( Shikhar Dhawan 53 , Ajinkya Rahane 35)

Udana’s back into the bowling attack. It’s been a couple of overs without a boundary for DC, and the required run rate has been climbing slowly, so Dhawan and Rahane might try to hit a couple of boundaries in this over just to get settled. And they do just that! Shikhar Dhawan knocks that past short fine to bring up yet another fifty, how incredible has he been this season? He follows up the boundary with a double and a single, before Rahane casually lifts the ball over extra cover for four, that was textbook!

FOUR! Ajinkya Rahane lofts that over extra cover! DC 99/1

FIFTY! Shikhar Dhawan scores yet another half-century, getting to the mark stylishly with a boundary! His fifty came from 37 balls.

After 11 overs,Delhi Capitals 86/1 ( Shikhar Dhawan 45 , Ajinkya Rahane 30)

Shahbaz Ahmed comes in to bowl, he’s only in the side because of that injury to Navdeep Saini, but can he grab this chance with both hands? His first over is pretty decent, just five runs come from it. Delhi Capitals have more than enough time to wrap up the win here, but they need to make sure they don’t take their foot off the gas too long.

After 10 overs,Delhi Capitals 81/1 ( Shikhar Dhawan 41 , Ajinkya Rahane 29)

This is some real athleticism on display from Dhawan and Rahane, they are running their lungs off. 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1 from the over, they’re ambling towards a win at the moment. None of RCB’s bowlers look like they have an answer at the moment. Does Kohli have an ace up his sleeve?

After 9 overs,Delhi Capitals 73/1 ( Shikhar Dhawan 35 , Ajinkya Rahane 27)

Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane are playing really smart cricket here, they’re not really seeking out the boundaries, and they’re running very well. Dhawan does get a bounday in Chahal’s second over, he sweeps to deep square’s right. 7 runs off the over.

Four! That was elegantly done by Shikhar Dhawan, he sweeps to the boundary! DC 71/1

After 8 overs,Pakistan 41/0 ( Imam-ul-Haq 22 , Abid Ali 17)

Washington Sundar is back, and he bowls a really good over. Just four runs off it, coming from two singles and a well-run double. Dhawan and Rahane look really settled here, a wicket is quickly becoming a necessity for RCB. They have a lot on the line here.

After 7 overs,Delhi Capitals 62/1 ( Shikhar Dhawan 27 , Ajinkya Rahane 24)

RCB’s star bowler Yuzvendra Chahal comes out to bowl, what can he manage in his first over? A wicket would be great, but at this point, Kohli could make do with an economical over too. First four balls are pretty good, just three runs from them, but Rahane sweeps between deep square and deep midwicket for a boundary on the fifth. Two more runs off the last ball make it 9 runs off the over.

Four! Ajinkya Rahane swept that between deep square and deep midwicket! DC 60/1

After 6 overs,Delhi Capitals 53/1 ( Shikhar Dhawan 25 , Ajinkya Rahane 17)

New bowler for Royal Challengers Bangalore, it’s the Sri Lankan Isuru Udana. Dhawan gets a single off the first ball, before Rahane belts a wider delivery past extra cover. A dot, and then Rahane hits another boundary past mid-off. Two more singles to end the over, the required run rate has now come down to 7.14. Strategic timeout now, what can Kohli do to stem DC’s tide.

FOUR! Another boundary for Ajinkya Rahane, and this one just about rolls to the boundary line. DC 51/1

FOUR! Positive start this from Ajinkya Rahane, he hammers that past extra cover! DC 47/1

After 5 overs,Delhi Capitals 42/1 ( Shikhar Dhawan 23 , Ajinkya Rahane 8)

Washington Sundar replaces Chris Morris, who was leaking runs left, right and centre. It doesn’t have the effect Kohli would have hoped for, Ajinkya Rahane’s hit him for four. Rahane does well to read the delivery, getting down and sweeping to square leg’s right. Single, and Dhawan is on strike now. Another single, Rahane’s back on strike. DC are ticking along quite nicely at the moment. A couple more singles make it 8 from the over.

FOUR! Ajinkya Rahane gets down well and sweeps to square leg’s right. DC 38/1

After 4 overs,Delhi Capitals 34/1 ( Shikhar Dhawan 21 , Ajinkya Rahane 2)

Siraj continues at the other end, can he add to that wicket he took in the second over? He starts off by conceding a boundary, that was pitched just outside off and Shikhar Dhawan whacked that for four, straight down the ground. No more boundaries in the over though, just a couple more singles.

FOUR! Shikhar Dhawan drives that straight down the ground, that was hit with some power! DC 32/1

After 3 overs,Delhi Capitals 28/1 ( Shikhar Dhawan 16 , Ajinkya Rahane 2)

Morris is back, and he’s greeted with a boundary by Dhawan, he swipes at that delivery and cuts it fine of short third man. The rest of the over is better, five more runs come off it. Ajinkya Rahane is off the mark as well.

Dhawan has been dismissed by Chahal three times in IPL. Dhawan has a SR of 115.7 against Chahal in IPL.

Should RCB bring in Chahal in PP overs?

FOUR! Shikhar Dhawan’s batting with intent. He cuts this fine of short third man! DC 23/1

After 2 overs,Delhi Capitals 19/1 ( Shikhar Dhawan 10 , Ajinkya Rahane 0)

Dhawan’s getting a bit of treatment after taking a bouncer to the forearm in the last delivery of the previous over. Doesn’t seem like a huge deal, but it’s definitely a sore one. Mohammed Siraj is up to bowl the second over. His first ball is sent racing away to the square leg boundary by Prithvi Shaw, who made that shot look absolutely effortless. A dot ball follows, before Shaw sends another delivery to the boundary line! This one is hit wide of mid-on, there’s no stopping those. Oh no, Prithvi Shaw’s curse continues! Once again he’s sent back with a single digit score, that was a beautiful delivery from Siraj. It shaped away from Shaw and takes the bails clean off.

OUT! Prithvi Shaw 9 (6b). Oh my word, that was a gorgeous delivery from Siraj! He knocks the stumps clean out of the ground!

FOUR! Another four for Shaw, this one is whipped wide of mid-on! DC 19/0

FOUR! Prithvi Shaw gets in on the hitting, he flicks it wonderfully to the square leg boundary. DC 15/0

After 1 overs,Delhi Capitals 11/0 ( Prithvi Shaw 1 , Shikhar Dhawan 10)

Alright then, Morris gets us underway, with Prithvi Shaw and Dhawan opening. Shaw is off the mark on the first ball with a single. If him and Shawan can put together a decent stand, DC could secure their playoff status tonight. Dhawan’s off the mark on his first ball faced at well, and he does it in some style, sending the ball racing away for four to deep point’s left. There’s a quick double run, before Dhawan bangs another four, this ones driven firmly to mid-off’s right. He looks confident out there, troubling signs already for RCB? Two dots to end the over, 11 off it.

FOUR! What a shot from Shikhar Dhawan, he confidently drives to mid-off’s right! DC 11/0

FOUR! What a start from Dhawan, he punched the first delivery he faces to deep point’s left for four! DC 5/0!

DC need to get at least 134 runs on the board if they lose to keep their NRR ahead of KKR, while RCB have to make DC bat at least 17.3 overs if they lose to do the same.

After 20 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 152/7 ( Washington Sundar 0 , Shahbaz Ahmed 1)

Good final over from Anrich Nortje. Two wickets and seven runs. Much-better bowling performance from the Capitals. RCB end up with 152-7 after 20 overs. Very much a chaseable total. Remember, winner of this game will seal the second spot on the table. Time for a short break.

Udana tries to take on the long-off fielder who just went back before the ball. He can’t clear the fielder. Udana c Shreyas Iyer b Nortje 4(2)

First ball boundary from Isuru Udana. Clears the mid-off fielder.

ABD walks back to the pavilion. Goes for the second run but fails to cross the line in time. Good throw from the deep. e Villiers run out (Rahane/Pant) 35(21)

After 19 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 145/5 ( AB de Villiers (W) 34 , )

Rabada gets the wicket in the final ball but he also went for runs. In a pressure situation, you expect better from a world class fast bowler. 11 off the over. One more over left in the innings. AB de Villiers will look to finish with a bang.

Dube goes for the big hit again but hits it straight to the fielder at deep mid-wicket. His little cameo comes to an end. Shivam Dube c Rahane b Rabada 17(11)

Again in the slot, Dube hits it through the deep extra cover. Another boundary for the left-hander.

Rabada bowls a juicy full-toss and ABD comes up with a 88 metres six. WOW!

After 18 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 134/4 ( AB de Villiers (W) 27 , Shivam Dube 13)

Sams corrects his line after conceding the boundary off the first ball. Goes full and straight to ABD, much better delivery for just one run. Dube then swings his bat hard to a slow ball but misses it. Sams goes for the yorker again but misses his length and gets punished. Dube ends the over with a four. RCB needed a big over and they got it. 17 off this one.

Short and Dube times it really good to get another boundary towards square of the wicket.

Low full-toss from Sams. Dube hits it well to clear the deep mid-wicket.

Sams to AB de Villiers. Slower one but ABD picks the gap in the extra cover region

After 17 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 117/4 ( AB de Villiers (W) 22 , Shivam Dube 1)

Rabada into the attack and two dots against Shivam Dube, the new batsman. After two fast deliveries, Rabada bowls a slower one, Dube gives the strike back to AB de Villers. ABD then pushes the ball on the leg-side and runs hard to collect two. A yorker length delivery to finish the over. Just five off this one.

Devdutt Padikkal became the first Indian uncapped player to hit five fifty-plus scores in a debut IPL season.

AB de Villiers in death-overs this IPL:

Runs : 221
Average : 55.25
SR : 227.84
4/6 : 14/18

After 16 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 112/4 ( AB de Villiers (W) 18 , )

Nortje bowls his third over. AB de Villers tries to beat the mid-off fielder, could’ve been a catching chance but Shreyas Iyer fails to catch it. This could’ve been a blinder. Nevermind the mistimed shot because ABD smashes a six in the next ball. Chris Morris joins ABD in the middle after the fall of Padikkal and he doesn’t stay for long. Really poor from Morris who tries to take on the bowler but instead nicks the ball to the keeper. Successful over from Nortje and Delhi Capitals.

Another one bites the dust! 

Chris Morris walks back after nicking the ball to the keeper. South African removes another South African. Chris Morris c Pant b Nortje 0(2)

BOWLED!

Padikkal makes room but fails to connect the bat to the ball. Nortje removes the well-set batsman. Devdutt Padikkal b Nortje 50(41)

AB de Villiers does his thing. The mid-off fielder is up and the batsman gets a much-needed maximum against Nortje!

After 15 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 103/2 ( Devdutt Padikkal 50 , AB de Villiers (W) 9)

Daniel Sams to AB de Villers. Single off the first ball. Sams then bowls a lovely slower ball to Padikkal. The batsman is surprised to see that but manages to collect one run. Sams goes full and wide to Padikkal, umpire signals wide twice. Single off the final ball and that’s 50 for the opener. His strike is 125, maybe he could’ve scored a lot quicker. The run-rate is not even seven at this point. We have a timeout.

Slower from Sams. Padikkal swings his bat hard and finds the boundary on the fine-leg region.

After 14 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 90/2 ( Devdutt Padikkal 43 , AB de Villiers (W) 5)

Axar to new batsman AB de Villers. There’s a shout for a LBW but too optimistic from the spinner. Padikkal is showing intent but he’s not executing the release shots. Seven off the over. Not much time for AB de Villers. He needs to activate his smashing mode soon.

AB de Villiers v Axar Patel in IPL:

Runs : 48 
Balls : 49 
Dismissals : 1
SR : 97.96

After 13 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 83/2 ( Devdutt Padikkal 40 , AB de Villiers (W) 1)

Ashwin starts off with two round-arm action deliveries to Padikkal. He then tosses it up to Kohli who takes the bait and it results in his dismissal. Anrich Nortje would be the most relieved player right now. Just two runs and a wicket in the over. Ashwin finishes his quota, four overs for just 18 runs. Brilliant from the off-spinner!

Kohli tries to take the deep mid-wicket fielder but fails to clear Marcus Stoinis. Ashwin with the big wicket. Kohli c Stoinis b Ashwin 29(24)

After 12 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 81/1 ( Devdutt Padikkal 39 , Virat Kohli (C) 29)

Axar to Padikkal. Innovative from the southpaw with a scoop shot but the ball doesn’t reach the boundary so three runs for the batsman. A six and then a single to end the over. Kohli has been showing intent but the boundary hits were missing. Finally, he gets a big one in this over.

Kohli steps against Axar and clears the straight boundary. Well done, skip!

After 11 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 68/1 ( Devdutt Padikkal 35 , Virat Kohli (C) 20)

Rabada to Kohli. Again Kohli walks down and tries for the big hit but misses the ball. No mistake in the next ball with Kohli coming up with his trademark cover-drive for four runs. Padikkal with a gentle pull and the ball takes one bounce to the fielder. Eight off the over.

Rabada offers width, Kohli says thank you! Aerial cover-drive from the master.

After 10 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 60/1 ( Devdutt Padikkal 33 , Virat Kohli (C) 14)

Axar Patel continues. Tossed up first delivery, Padikkal drives for one run. Kohli comes the down the track in the next ball but Patel does well and a mistimed shot is fielder at short mid-wicket. Guess what? Kohli against walks down the track and sends the ball to long-on. It’s a catching chance to Nortje who couldn’t hold on to the chance. This could be a very costly drop. Four off the over.

After 9 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 56/1 ( Devdutt Padikkal 31 , Virat Kohli (C) 12)

Ashwin bowls his third of the night. Slightly slower in the air, excepting the batsmen to go hard. The final ball is a slinger, a tribute to Malinga (or Bumrah) but nothing threatening for the batsman. Four off the over and we have a timeout now.

Devdutt Padikkal goes past Shreyas Iyer’s record of scoring most runs (439 in 2015) in a debut IPL season among Indian uncapped players

After 8 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 52/1 ( Devdutt Padikkal 29 , Virat Kohli (C) 10)

Axar Patel bowls his first over of the night. The fielders are pushed back so batsman easily collect the singles. 1, 1, 1 ,1, 1, 1 from the over. The run rate is around six so maybe RCB should look up the ante.

After 7 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 46/1 ( Devdutt Padikkal 26 , Virat Kohli (C) 7)

Decent over from Ashwin. Just six off it. After the four, Ashwin tosses it up invitingly and Padikkal is drawn into the forward push and almost chips it back to the bowler. One bounce to Ashwin.

Not much room from Ashwin but Padikkal still manages to cut the ball. Nicely done!

After 6 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 40/1 ( Devdutt Padikkal 21 , Virat Kohli (C) 6)

Nortje to Kohli. Two good-looking drives but the ball goes straight to the fielders on both the occasions. In the next ball, he goes on the backfoot and punches to beat the off-side field and collects four runs.  Padikkal hits a boundary in the fifth ball and then Nortje comes back well with a top class bouncer. Good stuff. End of powerplay

Padikkal uses the Nortje’s pace and places the ball towards third-man for a boundary. Lovely!

Backfoot cover drive from Kohli and the ball races away to the boundary. Such sweet timing.

After 5 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 31/1 ( Devdutt Padikkal 17 , Virat Kohli (C) 1)

For the first time this season, Kagiso Rabada strikes in the powerplay. After the four, Rabada does well to beat the bat of Padikkal. Virat Kohli, the skipper is out in the middle and he’s off the mark with a neat flick to the deep square-leg. Six runs plus a wicket.

This is the first wicket for Kagiso Rabada this IPL in PP overs.

Little bit of width from Rabada.  Padikkal gets the boundary on the deep point region again.

Rabada comes in and takes the first wicket. Philippe goes for the big hit but it ends up in a poor shot. Shaw takes a good catch. Philippe c Prithvi Shaw b Rabada 12(17

After 4 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 25/0 ( Josh Philippe 12 , Devdutt Padikkal 12)

Anrich Nortje into the attack. Philippe collects one run after pushing the ball to mid-on. After conceding the four, Nortje does to beat the batsman with a full delivery on the fourth stump line. Padikkal again takes the aerial route, this time over cover. Rabada chases and dives to pull the ball back. Three runs to the batsman. A quick single from Philippe to end the over. Nine from Nortje’s first over.

Ravichandran Ashwin in PP overs this IPL:

Wickets – 6
Eco. – 6.18
Average – 11.33
SR – 11.00

Top shot! 

Padikkal on the front foot, takes the aerial route over point for a boundary.

After 3 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 16/0 ( Josh Philippe 10 , Devdutt Padikkal 5)

Sams to Philippe, full and too wide so that’s first extra of the match. Philippe then drives the ball straight to the fielder on the off-side. After the four, Sams goes wide but this time he bowls a slower one for no run. Philippe then goes hard again but hits it straight to the fielder at cover.  A single and a dot to end the over. Another tidy one from the left-armer.

Short from Sams, Philippe with a front foot pull towards mid-on for the first boundary of the night.

After 2 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 10/0 ( Josh Philippe 5 , Devdutt Padikkal 5)

Spin in the second over. Ravichandran Ashwin bowls to Padikkal, one run off the first ball. Philippe looking to attack the off-spinner as he tries to pierce the off-side field after giving himself little bit of room but good fielding inside the circle. Just one run. A single thanks to a misfield and then the over ends with a double from Padikkal. Six off the over.

After 1 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 4/0 ( Josh Philippe 3 , Devdutt Padikkal 1)

Sams to Philippe, the left-arm pacer starts off with a good length delivery outside off for no run. The second ball is pitched up, Philippe pushes the ball down the ground and takes a quick single. Padikkal is also off the mark with a single on the leg-side. The fourth ball is short, Philippe pulls it but Anrich Nortje slides to stop the ball from hitting the rope. Two runs taken. Philippe then hits one straight with the ball disturbing the stumps near the umpire, no run taken. A dot to finish the over.

Time for some cricketing action. Josh Philippe opens the batting for RCB. Devdutt Padikkal is on the other end. Daniel Sams with the new ball.

DC have a 9-14 win/loss record against RCB in IPL. 

DC have defeated RCB in each of their last three encounters against them.

DC have lost each of their last four IPL matches this year while RCB have lost each of their last three IPL matches.

Virat Kohli at the toss:

“It is simple you try and win every game of cricket you play. The conversation never changes and you don’t take any game lightly. But this being a crunch game not a bad thing to be batting first and putting runs on the board, we would have liked to bowl as well. Pressure in big games can be a funny thing.”

Delhi Capitals playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Sams, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje

Royal Challengers Bangalore playing XI: Josh Philippe, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Shahbaz Ahmed, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

Three changes for Delhi

Ajinkya Rahane, Axar Patel and Daniel Sams come in. 

Two changes for Bangalore

Shivam Dube replaces Gurkeerat. Navdeep Saini is injured so Shahbaz Ahmed is in playing XI

Toss update

Delhi Capitals win the toss and Shreyas Iyer opts to bowl first.

Pitch report: 

“We have gorgeous conditions for this crunch encounter. Batters will want to target the 62 meter boundary. Good even covering of grass,” say Danny Morrsion and JP Duminy.

 There are lots of flaws in our game, says DC skipper Shreyas Iyer

Delhi Capitals have lost their last four matches. Here’s what their skipper said after defeat against Mumbai Indians

“There are lots of flaws to be pointed out to, but we gotta believe in ourselves and be strong-headed, also be positive. We will have to think about it (changes to the line-up) and be fearless in our approach. We’ll keep things simple and will not try to think much.”

The DC skipper said that they are also not reading the pitches. “Obviously, we fell short of reading the wicket. We weren’t up to the mark right from the start and those wickets in the powerplay took down the momentum from us.”

IPL 2020: The humane genius of Ben Stokes

A few weeks ago, I reached my hometown with a heavy heart. My father had fallen seriously ill. It wasn’t the coronavirus, but just as daunting, because the doctors were stumped too. Given that he had been living on his own for years, my arrival was both timely and challenging. As we struggled to ease into the unfamiliarity of a caregiver-patient equation, my mind was a mess. The uncertainty was deafening. I’m a writer, so the headspace is precious. Words pay the bills. But I could barely watch a film, let alone analyze and review it. I struggled to form sentences. Anything other than his treatment felt like an unwelcome distraction.

Every other night, his groans scored the muted images of Ben Stokes on our television screen. Ben Stokes, the best all-rounder in the world. Ben Stokes, World Champion. Ben Stokes, Super Man. Ben Stokes, immortal. As fate would have it, my unscheduled return to my father coincided with the return of Stokes from his father. Stokes was just a stage ahead – or behind, depending on how one looks at it – in the life-cycle of perishing parents. While England celebrated Chris Woakes’ heroics in the Manchester Test against Pakistan in early August, Ben Stokes quietly dropped out of the squad. He reached his hometown, Christchurch, with a heavy heart. His father was seriously ill. He had been diagnosed with brain cancer earlier this year. Stokes went on an indefinite break from cricket. IPL 2020 felt distant. The Rajasthan Royals started the season not knowing when – or if – Stokes would play for them. A domestic T20 league during a global pandemic might not have been his top priority.

Click  here  to read Rahul Desai’s weekly column, in which he talks about the magic of Ben Stokes.

IPL on Pod: DC and RCB’s struggles, playoff scenarios, how the remaining league matches will go and more

Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals are second and third in the IPL 2020 league table and have resided in the top half of the table for almost the entire league duration but are still to seal the playoffs berth. They were expected to qualify for playoffs at least a week back but consecutive defeats, four for DC and three for RCB, means the winner between their match on Monday would reach the playoffs while the loser could miss out.

Kolkata Knight Riders are still in contention for the playoffs after beating Rajasthan Royals on Sunday, however, Sunrisers Hyderabad have a positive Net Run Rate, and they could qualify for the playoffs if they beat Mumbai Indians on Tuesday.

MI were the first team to qualify for the playoffs and are now also guaranteed a top spot in the league table. The defending champions have made winning a habit. And that habit is a result of a number of things that the franchise has done right to build a legacy for themselves. Their efforts behind creating a winning environment, building a core, spotting suitable talent, and backing top players have made them the most dominant IPL franchise.

If you’ve got time to kill, listen to our IPL podcast where we sum up all the previous week’s happenings and preview the coming week of action!

Inability to close out matches, KL Rahul’s strike rate hurt KXIP; CSK, MS Dhoni have to shake-up squad

Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab. Two teams with vastly different histories.

Coming into this, the 13th edition of the IPL, one of them had never failed to qualify for the knockouts or playoffs, and the other had only managed to do the same twice. One had a history of retaining its core performers, the other was most prone to annual fire-sales. Aside from the ‘Kings’ in their names, they’ve shared very little in common.

But for the third season running, they ran into each other in their final league stage games. The roles were reversed – in each of the last two campaigns, CSK had not only a playoff berth guaranteed, but also a top-two finish virtually assured; in 2020, coming into the 53rd game of the season, CSK were the only team out of playoff contention, while KXIP were very much in the running.

Click  here  to read more of Yash Jha’s analysis of KXIP and CSK’s struggles this season.

SRH expose chink in RCB’s batting as race to playoffs heats up

If there is one thing we realised on the final league-stage Saturday of this edition of the Indian Premier League, it’s that no team – barring Mumbai Indians – wants an easy qualification route.

In a season where Chennai Super Kings have never been in the knockouts’ race, you would think the other teams would pull up their socks. They haven’t, with all five teams still in contention for the remaining three spots as you read this. While it is an ode to Mumbai in how well oiled they are, the consistency among other teams in being inconsistent is worrying. In a league that is in its 13th season, you expect more than just two teams constantly making the knockouts. From a holistic IPL viewpoint, that is staggering.

Two teams are synonymous with this inconsistency – Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore. The former were quite brilliant in their early-season form, yet have managed to squander any gains whatsoever and are now on the cusp of exit thanks to faltering run-rate. Royal Challengers Bangalore are only marginally better in terms of NRR as they also blew their massive chance to join Mumbai early in the knockouts’ sanctity. Both these losses were marred by shoddy batting performances.

Click here  to read more of Chetan Narula’s analysis of RCB’s defeat at the hands of SRH.

Decoding Delhi Capitals’ downward slump and how they can improve

There was a time in this edition of the IPL, not too long ago, when Delhi Capitals – along with Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore – had pulled away from the others in the race to the Playoffs. Now, as the league stage enters its last round, these three sides are still at the top. However, while Mumbai are guaranteed a top spot, Bangalore and Delhi have fallen behind; and given their ordinary net run rates, a defeat in the last match – when they play each other – may well spell doom for both.

This is particularly true for Delhi (-0.159), whose net run rate is behind not only that of Bangalore (-0.145), but also Sunrisers Hyderabad (+0.555) and Kings XI Punjab (-0.133), both of whom are two points behind them. In other words, they as good as have to win their last match.

So, what went wrong? Why did Delhi lose four matches on the trot after winning seven out of nine? Ajinkya Rahane played two of these matches: he got a golden duck in one and played a useful cameo in the other before being replaced by Prithvi Shaw – who did not do much either.

Click  here  to read more of Abhishek Mukherjee’s analysis of DC’s loss against MI.

Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore aim to break losing streak with top-two finish at stake

Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore are both expected to go all out against each other on Monday to arrest their rapid slide in the IPL and, more importantly, secure a top-two finish in the points table.

DC and RCB go into the virtual quarterfinal, having lost four and three games on the trot respectively, showing that things can change rather quickly in the highly-competitive IPL.

At stake is a top-two finish which provides a couple of attempts to make it to the final. The loser of Monday’s game could still end up making the play-offs but it will be then at the mercy of other teams.

Click  here  to read more of the preview of tonight’s match.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the IPL!

It’s match 55 of the Indian Premier League coming up, and it will see the Delhi Capitals face off against the Royal Challenger Bangalore. If you haven’t watched a single minute of action from this season of the IPL, you would be forgiven for thinking that since this is the penultimate match of the league. it’ll probably be a dead rubber, but tonight’s contest is actually one of huge consequence! RCB and DC are currently level on 14 points with the Kolkata Knight Riders, with RCB in second and DC in third. As of right now, both teams are qualifying for the playoffs, but whoever loses tonight could be in danger of missing out, should SRH beat Mumbai tomorrow. Stay tuned as we bring you all the updates from this high-stakes encounter!