Highlights IPL 2017, RCB vs SRH at Bangalore, cricket scores and updates: Match called off due to rain

No play possible tonight. Match abandoned. RCB and SRH share a point.

Beyond a point it is the umpires who have goofed up big time. Even when the rains stopped intermittently they did not have covers taken off.  There is no way  play would have stopped for this light drizzle. But umpire Shamsuddin’s suspect judgment has infuriated all. There is a packed house at the Chinnaswamy Stadium but the umpire has ruined their evening by being needlessly and excessively cautious.

It is certain that there will be reduction in overs. If the match had commenced by 9.10 there would have been a full game. But this incessant light drizzle has upset the schedule. Hopefully the much-reviled Duckworth- Lewis won’t be utilized. In any case it was never designed for T20 cricket. Calculations for number of overs would be made till 12.20 am @ the rate of 14.11 per hour. Time outs can be done away with. Players are warming up and umpires walking around. But covers are on. If the match had started players would NOT have come off for this light drizzle.

The worrying aspect of this drizzle is that it is not a usual summer rain. Usually in Bangalore it pours buckets for 15 to 25 mins mid summer and stops. That can be handled. But this irritating light rain has been on and off for 2 hours now. Very unusual. Unless the rain completely stops covers on square won’t come off. Outfield needs no cover. In fact players are out there doing their prematch thing

Royal Challengers Bangalore have won four out of ten matches against Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL. While at Bangalore, they have won three out of five matches against Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL.

It is raining again in Bangalore. The covers are back on at the M Chinnaswamy stadium. The match is delayed further.

Light drizzle in City. Hope it will stay away from M Chinnaswamy stadium, though the venue has nothing to fear from rains. The ground is superbly laid to take copious rains and still be ready for play within the time it takes to whip covers off the pitch. First and thus far Only cricket ground in the world to have SubAir System fitted underneath outfield. Can suck out water at 37 times the speed of gravity.

Gayle Vs Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Badree Vs. Warner would be good opening contests. Likewise, ABD or Kohli against Rashid Khan and Kane Wiliamson against Chahal should be good side contests.  If anything RCB’s bowling looks marginally better than SRH.

There has been some rain in Bangalore, which has thankfully stopped. 28 degrees celsius is perfect conditions for cricket. The M Chinnaswamy stadium is an evenly-sized ground with the longest boundary being 75 m long. The pitch had always been conducive for batting, though its character has changed. Now you have a lack of bounce and it is more two-paced. RCB would want their big three –  Kohli, Gayle and De Villiers to fire with the bat.

It would be the battle of the leg spinners at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. RCB have two outstanding ones – Sam Badree and Yuzi Chahal while SRH’s Afghan Rashid Khan has been spinning some great stuff himself. Chahal has been aggressive even in the small RCB home ground and pretty successful. Rashid spins the ball a long way and has been very deceptive with his googlies. May the best back-of-the-hand merchant win the day.

RCB do not have too much room to manoeuvre. They are in a must-win situation. They are in exactly the situation they were last year – two wins from 7 matches. They won six of the remaining 7 to advance and went on to enter the final. Can they repeat the feat this season? They need at least 5 more wins and have the team to do it. Last match — their ‘Summer of 49’ — seems a nightmare and the big guns Kohli, Gayle, ABD will hope to put it behind and start afresh. Mandeep and Binny must do justice to the chances they are getting. RCB’s bowlers Badree, Chahal, Mills are in form, with Arvind and Negi chipping in very well. But the batting needs a makeover.

SRH full squad: David Warner (c), Naman Ojha (wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, Moises Henriques, Siddarth Kaul, Ricky Bhui, Ashish Nehra, Yuvraj Singh, Vijay Shankar, Chris Jordan, Mohammad Nabi, Eklavya Dwivedi, Pravin Tambe, Ben Laughlin, Tanmay Agarwal, Deepak Hooda, Rashid Khan, Bipul Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Ben Cutting, Abhimanyu Mithun, Mustafizur Rahman, Barinder Sran.

RCB full squad: Virat Kohli (c), Kedar Jadhav (wk), Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, AB de Villiers, Harshal Patel, Adam Milne, Sarfaraz Khan, Shane Watson, Tabraiz Shamsi, Praveen Dubey, Aniket Choudhary, Billy Stanlake, Vishnu Vinod, Harpreet Singh, Stuart Binny, Pawan Negi, Samuel Badree, Tymal Mills, Sreenath Aravind, Yuzvendra Chahal, Iqbal Abdulla, Travis Head, Sachin Baby, Avesh Khan.

IPL 2017: Royal Challengers Bangalore look to shake off heavy KRR loss with win over Sunrisers Hyderabadhttp://www.firstpost.com

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of Match 29 of the Indian Premier League 2017 between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Virat Kohli-led RCB will look to pick themselves up after a bruising defeat against KKR, though it won’t be one bit easy. They would have to find some inspiration from their big stars. Defending champions SRH, on the other hand, have had a pretty shoddy record away from home and would be wary. RCB need to win badly to get their campaign back on track, while SRH need to consolidate their position. There are lots to play for. But looks like there has been some rain in Bangalore. Not great news for the fans.