Preview: Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will look to continue the momentum from their last outing when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) fixture at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday. A Chris Gayle hurricane (38-ball 77) coupled with Kohli’s 50-ball 64 guided RCB to their second win of the campaign against Gujarat Lions in their previous outing. [caption id=“attachment_3400348” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of Virat Kohli (L) and Gautam Gambhir (R). AFP[/caption] Despite the absence of South African star AB de Villiers, the sought-after franchise toyed with their rivals bowling posting 213 to which Brendon McCullum (72 off 44 balls) staged a good fightback but eventually fell short by 21 runs. RCB are still languishing at third from bottom in the eight-team points table losing four of their six matches. Shorn of star power initially with the likes of Kohli and de Villiers not playing the first three and two matches respectively, the three-time runners-up were also ruffled by the iffy form of Australian all-rounder Shane Watson. Since the arrival of Kohli (against Mumbai Indians) and de Villiers (against Kings XI Punjab), their batting has looked the part though both the superstars ended on the losing side in their respective opening ties. Coming back from a shoulder injury he picked while captaining India against Australia in the four-match Test series, Kohli smashed 67 in his first game, while AB announced his arrival with an unbeaten 89 off just 46 deliveries. But triumphs have been hard to come by for RCB. Besides Gujarat, RCB have won against Delhi Daredevils only. Samuel Badree’s hat-trick against Mumbai was the high point as far as their bowling is concerned but in that match too, they ended up second best due to an underwhelming batting show. Badree has been one of the most economical bowlers this season, leaking just 41 runs in his eight overs from two games so far. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has taken the most wickets for side with seven to his name. England fast bowler Tymal Mills, whom RCB roped in this term for a whopping Rs 12 crore, and de Villiers have been given the green signal to play. If the pair comeback, Travis Head and Shane Watson will in all likelihood have to sit out. Talking about the home team, Gautam Gambhir’s wards saw their juggernaut being halted by Gujarat at the same venue on Friday. Poor bowling cost the two-time champions the math which for larger parts was in their control. Against arguably the best batting lineup, head coach Jacques Kallis would want to plug the gaps as soon as possible. “We don’t become a bad bowling unit after just one game. We will have some good game plans in place. RCB are down in the table, and they are looking for some form,” Kallis had said at the post match media interaction on Friday. “We will have to use that to our advantage. We still have a lot of confidence. The boys are playing with freedom and playing well. We haven’t been able to put up a complete game so far, but when we start doing that we will be a tough side to beat,” the 41-year-old South African added. Sunil Narine’s pyrotechnics on Friday (17-ball 42) gave KKR a flying start on Friday and also vindicated the team management’s decision to make the most of the Powerplay. Robin Uthappa’s form (48-ball 72) also augurs well for the hosts along with Manish Pandey who has been in great form this season. Big-hitting Yusuf Pathan has also looked to bat for a longer period and against Delhi Daredevils played a gem of a knock under pressure. Suryakumar Yadav’s lean patch is a cause of concern with the KKR vice-captain just not getting runs under his belt. In the 18 engagements between the two teams since 2008, both outfits have won nine times each. Squads: KKR: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Robin Uthappa, Shakib Al Hasan, Chris Lynn, Umesh Yadav, Yusuf Pathan, Sheldon Jackson, Ankit Singh Rajpoot, Trent Boult, Chris Woakes, Rishi Dhawan, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rovman Powell, R. Sanjay Yadav, Ishank Jaggi, Darren Bravo, Sayan Ghosh, Colin de Grandhomme RCB: Virat Kohli (captain), AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Pawan Negi, Tymal Mills, Aniket Choudhary, Praveen Dubey, Billy Stanlake, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harshal Patel, Mandeep Singh, Adam Milne, S. Aravind, Kedar Jadhav, Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Samuel Badree, Iqbal Abdulla, Travis Head, Sachin Baby, Avesh Khan, Tabraiz Shamsi, Harpreet Singh. With inputs from IANS
Highlights IPL 2017, KKR vs RCB, cricket scores and updates: KKR thump RCB by 82 runs
Live scores and updates of IPL 10 match between KKR and RCB at Eden Gardens
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This is only the second time both teams got all out in an IPL match.
Other instance: RR vs DC, Nagpur, 2010
23/04/2013: Highest IPL total (RCB – 263/5)
23/04/2017: Lowest IPL total (RCB – 49/10
Lowest totals in IPL:
49 by Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kolkata Knight Riders at Kolkata in 2017*
58 by Rajasthan Royals v Royal Challengers Bangalore at Cape Town in 2009
67 by Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians at Mumbai in 2008
After 9 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 48/8 ( Tymal Mills 2 , Sreenath Aravind 4)
After a couple of outswingers, Woakes brings one back in and the plan workes as Badree is trapped in front. Woakes nearly has another one but Aravind’s checked shot flies over extra cover for four. A couple of bouncers on either side of the risky shot are left alone. 5 runs and a wicket off the over.
After 8 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 43/7 ( Samuel Badree 0 , Tymal Mills 1)
The KKR pacers are on fire. De Grandhomme too got substantial movement and he got the wicket of Negi in that over. Mills gave full monty to a couple of deliveries but missed. Just 3 runs and a wicket off the over.
After 7 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 40/6 ( Pawan Negi 0 , Samuel Badree 0)
What a fantastic first over from Woakes! Each of the KKR pacers got a wicket in their first over. Good length deliveries doing the trick for Woakes. He hit the right lengths in that over and got rewarded with the wickets of Gayle and Binny. One run and two wickets in the over. Two new batsmen at the crease.
After 6 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 39/4 ( Chris Gayle 7 , Stuart Binny 8)
Another very good over from Umesh. Beats Gayle’s outside edge off the the second ball and then draws a false shot, an outside edge which flies to third man for four. He induces another edge again, this time it flies wide of the wide slip for a single to third man. He then comes really close to grabbing the wicket of Binny but his powerful cut flies inches wide of the diving backward point fielder. 11 runs off the over. A brilliant powerplay for KKR – 39/4 in that period.
After 5 overs, Royal Challengers Bangalore 28/4 ( Chris Gayle 2 , Stuart Binny 4)
Everyone is pumped up. The bowler, the crowd and the fielders. They are diving all around. Coulter-Nile is ramping up good pace. He is making good use of decent away movement but it is his pace that is doing much of the damage. He gets Jadhav first ball of the over. After five dots, Binny finally releases some pressure as he drives one uppishly over point. Four runs and a wicket off it.
After 4 overs, Royal Challengers Bangalore 24/3 ( Chris Gayle 2 , Kedar Jadhav (W) 9)
Umesh has found terrific rhythm. He bowls a brilliant yorker to Gayle who digs it to the leg side. Jadhav then fiddles with an outswinger but misses. Umesh responds with a couple of short balls, Jadhav is hurried up on his pull and gets just one and Gayle hits one straight to mid-wicket. Umesh nearly has Gayle off the final ball but it swings back in too much to miss Gayle’s inside edge as well as the stumps. Brilliant over. Just 2 runs off it.
After 3 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 22/3 ( Chris Gayle 1 , Kedar Jadhav (W) 8)
Coulter-Nile has got two big wickets now – Kohli and De Villiers. He started off the over well inducing a leading edge off Gayle. Then drifted down the leg side only for De Villiers to trickle it to fine leg fence. But the Australian had the last laugh bouncing out De Villiers off the next ball. Coulter-Nile then oversteps for the second time in his innings and follows it up with a wide. Jadhav slashes the Free Hit ball over the slip cordon for four. Jadhav then ended the over well with a lofted drive over point. 15 runs and a wicket off the over.
After 2 overs, Royal Challengers Bangalore 7/2 ( Chris Gayle 0 , AB de Villiers 4)
Another successful over for KKR. Umesh too got some movement. He managed to remove Mandeep off a ball that didn’t deserve a wicket. De Villiers then started off in style with a lovely flick through mid-wicket for four. The crowd has come to life. 4 runs and a wicket off the over.
This is just the third golden duck for Virat Kohli in T20s.
1st against Mumbai Indians, Bangalore in 2008
2nd against Kings XI Punjab, Bangalore in 2014

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