IPL 2017, Highlights DD vs RCB, cricket score and updates: Bangalore beat Delhi by 10 runs

Least wins in an IPL season:

2 – DC, 2008

2 – DD, 2014

3 – KKR, 2009

3 – DD, 2013

3 – KXIP, 2015

3 – RCB, 2017*

Harshal Patel wins the Man of the Match for his figures of 3/43.

Incidentally, it was Pawan Negi who bowled the match-winning final over in Bangalore’s previous encounter against Delhi at the Chinnaswamy, with the hosts pulling off a 15-run win back then.

After 20 overs,Delhi Daredevils 151/10 ( Zaheer Khan (C) 1 , )

Final over of the innings, with Negi bowling it. Nadeem collects a single off the first ball. Shami then strays down the track to get stumped, with his backfoot marginally outside the crease. DD captain Zaheer walks out to bat, and gets a single off the only delivery that he faces. Couple of dots in the next two deliveries, before Nadeem holes out to Jadhav at the square-leg boundary. 

Delhi Daredevils end up getting bowled out for 151 in 20 overs, as Royal Challengers Bangalore win the final league match of IPL 2017 by 10 runs!

RCB huffed and puffed to victory. Kohli super thrilled. So are rest of RCB team. A winning end to a forgettable season. Won by 10 runs.

After 56 matches in IPL-10:

Most Runs: David Warner (604)

Most Fours: David Warner (61)

Most Sixes: Glenn Maxwell (26) 

Most Wickets: Bhuvneshwar Kumar (25) 

Most WK dismissals: Robin Uthappa (13) 

Most Catches: Kieron Pollard (12)

OUT! Nadeem tries slogging towards the leg side in the last ball of the match, and ends up getting caught by Jadhav at the square-leg boundary! DD 151 all out!

Nadeem c Jadhav b Negi 2(6)

OUT! Shami was striking well, as Negi further snuffed Delhi’s hopes out by drawing him out of his crease for a shot, and getting him stumped after missing the delivery completely. He tried getting his foot back inside the crease, and was marginally out. DD 150/9

Shami st Vinod b Negi 21(9)

After 19 overs,Delhi Daredevils 149/8 ( Mohammed Shami 21 , Shahbaz Nadeem 1)

Avesh to bowl the penultimate over of the innings. He appears to suffer from cramps after bowling the first delivery of the over. New batsman Nadeem gets off the mark with a single in the first delivery that he faces. SIX! Shami keeps the fight going at one point, with Kohli getting his fingertips to the ball as the ball flies over the boundary rope. Shami miscues the next ball, but it lands safely near long-on. FOUR! Top-edge off Shami’s bat in the final ball of the over, 14 coming off the over. Delhi still has a chance as long as Shami keeps connecting well. 

Delhi Daredevils need 13 to win from 6 balls

It ain’t over till the fat lady sings. RCB learning that. Bowling a mixed bag. Some good deliveries under pressure. But also some appalling stuff sent down. Luckily DD don’t bat deep.

After 18 overs,Delhi Daredevils 135/8 ( Mohammed Shami 9 , )

Negi introduced into the attack in the 18th over, and there is an appeal for a stumping chance in the second delivery, though Shami has his foot firmly inside the crease. SIX! Mishra dances down the track and lofts the fourth delivery straight down the ground! Negi though, has the last laugh as he knocks Mishra’s middle-stump over with a quicker delivery. 

Delhi Daredevils need 27 to win from 12 balls

OUT! After getting hit for a massive six by Mishra, Negi replies with a quicker delivery along leg, which grips and straightens before hitting the middle stump. Just when Mishra was starting to look dangerous for RCB, he gets neutralised. DD 135/8

After 17 overs,Delhi Daredevils 127/7 ( Amit Mishra 0 , Mohammed Shami 8)

Patel returns to the attack for his final over. SIX! Pant goes for the pick shot at the start of the over, and manages to clear the fence on the leg side! The next delivery grips on th surface, and kicks up unexpectedly to hit him on his arm. Bowls a couple of slower balls, with the off-cutter on the second occasion knocking his off-stump over after he brought his bat down quite early. Shami walks out to bat, and starrs off with back-to-back boundaries! 

Delhi Daredevils need 35 to win from 18 balls

BOWLED EM! And that should seal the fate of the match! Harshal deceives Pant with an off-cutter, and Pant brings his bat down early, and gets his off-stump knocked over to depart five runs short of a half-century. DD 119/7

Pant b Patel 45(34)

This is the first time after 22 matches Shane Watson has conceded less than 20 runs from four overs in an IPL match. Before today, he conceded less than 20 runs in an IPL match was against KXIP while playing for RR in 2013.

And suddenly a flurry of wickets… DD had fluffed an easy 158-chase in their first game of the season. That was against RCB. Totally looking capable right now of fluffing this 162-chase. Sums up their season really! 

After 16 overs,Delhi Daredevils 113/6 ( Rishabh Pant (W) 39 , )

Head into his third over, with ther pressure starting to increase for Delhi with the passage of every tight over. Anderson perishes after coming down the track, and missing the line of the straight delivery from Head completely. Cummins walks out to bat next, and hammers the penultimate delivery over midwicket for a maximum. Cummins tries hammering over long-off in the very next delivery, but ends up gettig the toe end of the bat. 

Delhi Daredevils need 49 to win from 24 balls

Head comes good at crucial time for RCB. Head using flight and change in speed well.he’s done his job. Two wickets in an over puts tremendous pressure on DD. Pant still the key.

OUT! Cummins tries hammering a second-consecutive six off Head, but ends up holing out to Kohli at long-off, getting the toe end of the bat in his attempted slog. DD 113/6

Cummins c Kohli b Head 7(3)

Timely wickets for RCB. New batsman would struggle to adapt to sluggish pitch. Good slow off spin to dismiss Marlon Samuel. RCB need to get rid of Rishabh Pant.

OUT! Anderson departs while looking for a big shot, coming down the track, and gets stumped after missing a straight delivery from the Australian part-timer. DD 105/5

Anderson st Vinod b Head 3(9)

After 15 overs,Delhi Daredevils 104/4 ( Rishabh Pant (W) 37 , Corey Anderson 3)
 

Watson into his final over, and he signs off with a yet another economical over, giving just three off it. Pant tries slapping the third ball towards the leg side, but only gets a single off it. Watson’s figures at the end of his spell reads 1/16 from four overs. 

Delhi Daredevils need 58 to win from 30 balls

After 14 overs,Delhi Daredevils 101/4 ( Rishabh Pant (W) 35 , Corey Anderson 2)

Two boundaries for Pant in the first three balls, opening the face of his bat to guide the first delivery towards backward point before going for a hook two deliveries later to send it to fine-leg. The team 100 comes up in the penultimate delivery with a single. 

Delhi Daredevils need 61 to win from 36 balls

After 13 overs,Delhi Daredevils 90/4 ( Rishabh Pant (W) 25 , Corey Anderson 1)

Watson continues to bowl at a miserly rate, giving away just three in this over. The back-to-back dismissals in the previous over has helped bing RCB back to the fore. The umpire signals for the second timeout of the innings. While Cummins is a handy bat down the order, the Pant-Anderson combination is perhaps the last recognised in the Delhi innings. 

Delhi Daredevils need 72 to win from 42 balls

After 12 overs,Delhi Daredevils 87/4 ( Rishabh Pant (W) 23 , Corey Anderson 0)

Harshal Patel returns to the attack in the 12th over, and bowls a gamechanging over, dismissing set batsman Iyer as well as the hard-hitting Samuels off successive deliveries to put RCB back on top. Gives away just three off the over. 

Delhi Daredevils need 75 to win from 48 balls

DD looking on course here. But need to keep an eye on that asking rate. Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant need to get them as close as possible. 

OUT! Two-in-two for Harshal Patel, as he deceives Samuels with an off-cutter that beats the West Indian’s defence completely! DD 87/4

Samuels b Patel 0(1)

OUT! Harshal Patel finally gets the breakthrough, as Iyer slaps a short ball straight to Watson at extra-cover, with the latter collecting a low catch. Ends the third-wicket partnership at the 46-run mark. DD 87/3

Iyer c Watson b Patel 32(30)

After 11 overs,Delhi Daredevils 84/2 ( Shreyas Iyer 31 , Rishabh Pant (W) 21)

Watson returns to the attack as Delhi recover at the halfway mark in their innings. FOUR! Pant pulls the fourth ball of the over towards the backward square-leg fence to get his first boundary. Eight off the over, with 33 coming off the last 3. 

Delhi Daredevils need 78 to win from 54 balls

Chahal is a habitual no-ball offender. Quite a joke considering he bowls off a 5-6 step run up. He sends down no-balls in nearly every match. Time he worked out a different approach to nets and sorted it out. Currently his extravagance could cost his team dear in some match.

After 10 overs,Delhi Daredevils 76/2 ( Shreyas Iyer 29 , Rishabh Pant (W) 15)

Chahal from the other end, and he will look to arrest the sudden leakage of runs. Except he concedes a front-foot no-ball in the penultimate delivery of the over, which is then followed by a flick towards the long-leg boundary for a four. Nine off the over, with Delhi boosting their run-rate with a couple of much-needed big overs. 

Delhi Daredevils need 86 to win from 60 balls

Slowish start fo DD by their regular power play standards. But this total will not be worrisome at all unless there is an immense collapse. RCB do not look inspired enough for that.

After 9 overs,Delhi Daredevils 67/2 ( Shreyas Iyer 23 , Rishabh Pant (W) 13)

Head into his second over. Iyer despatches the first two deliveries towards the cow-corner region, with the second one going away for a boundary. Pant then goes inside-out in the fourth ball, and manages to get the ball to sail over the jumping fielder at long-off. Huge over this for Delhi, with 16 coming off it! 

Delhi Daredevils need 95 to win from 66 balls

After 8 overs,Delhi Daredevils 51/2 ( Shreyas Iyer 14 , Rishabh Pant (W) 6)

Avesh returns to the attack, and boy is he having some debut today, sticking to attacking lines today to keep the batsmen tied up. Gives away just four singles in another economical over, with the team 50 coming up, though the run-rate is below 7 at the moment. 

Delhi Daredevils need 111 to win from 72 balls

After 7 overs,Delhi Daredevils 47/2 ( Shreyas Iyer 12 , Rishabh Pant (W) 4)

Head introduced into the attack in the first over after powerplay, and it turns out to be quiet one with five singles coming off it. The run-rate has scored drastically in the last couple of overs, and it could propel the required run-rate unless the batsmen take some initiative right now. 

Delhi Daredevils need 115 to win from 78 balls

After 6 overs,Delhi Daredevils 42/2 ( Shreyas Iyer 10 , Rishabh Pant (W) 1)

Watson introduced in the final over of powerplay. Needless pull by Nair in the second ball of the over results in him offering Jadhav a simple catch at short midwicket. Rishabh Pant walks out to bat, and starts off with a single in the first ball that he faces. Just two runs and the wicket of Nair in this over, with the umpire calling for the timeout at the end of the over. 

Delhi Daredevils need 120 to win from 84 balls

OUT! Watson introduced into the attack in the final over of powerplay, and Nair suffers a brain fade as he miscues straight to Jadhav at short midwicket while looking for a pull off a back-of-length delivery! DD 41/2

Nair c Jadhav b Watson 26(22)

After 5 overs,Delhi Daredevils 40/1 ( Karun Nair 26 , Shreyas Iyer 9)

Harshal Patel introduced into the attack in the fifth over. Nair greets him by opening the face of his bat, and guiding it through the gap between backward point and short third man. Nair then shuffles to his right a couple of deliveries later, and goes for the lap shot off a short bak-of-length delivery outside off, guiding it towards the fine-leg boundary. Nair then makes it back-to-back, cutting the next one powerfully to send it racing away to the cover boundary. DROPPED! Iyer gets an outside-edge that lands just short of stand-in keeper Vinod. Tough chance for him, but will nevertheless go down as a dropped chance. 

Delhi Daredevils need 122 to win from 90 balls

After 4 overs,Delhi Daredevils 25/1 ( Karun Nair 13 , Shreyas Iyer 8)

Chahal continues from the other end. Iyer dances down the pitch in the penultimate ball of the over, and strikes hard enough to clear the long-on boundary. Eight off the over, with the two batsmen starting to settle at the crease right now. 

Delhi Daredevils need 137 to win from 96 balls

Avesh Khan the MP pacer has already made an impressive debut. He’s getting good bounce off the pitch and getting the ball to seam into the right hander. The pitch is not conducive to pace bowling but he has managed to coax life out of it. The tall, lanky young pacer looks a real good prospect. None of the batsmen seemed comfortable facing him in the first two overs.

After 3 overs,Delhi Daredevils 17/1 ( Karun Nair 12 , Shreyas Iyer 1)

Avesh into his second over, and it is a boundary in the last delivery of the over — driven by Nair towards the covers on the up — that ruins what would have been a maiden over! Superb start by the debutant today despite that boundary!

After 2 overs,Delhi Daredevils 13/1 ( Karun Nair 8 , Shreyas Iyer 1)

Spin introduced from the other end, with Chahal being tossed the ball. Nair sweeps in the second delivery, and dispatches it towards the long-leg fence. Sharp turn in the third delivery, with the ball beating Nair’s bat, the keeper’s gloves as well as slip fielder Gayle before running away to the third man fence. 11 off the over. Meanwhile, Jadhav apparently isn’t keeping the stumps at the moment, due to the possibility of his off-spin being used by skipper Kohli, and Vinod is donning the gloves in his place.

After 1 overs,Delhi Daredevils 2/1 ( Karun Nair 1 , Shreyas Iyer 1)

Avesh greets Samson with a vicious bouncer that hits Samson on the glove. The latter tries to pull the next delivery, which is also a short one, but ends up offering Kohli a simple catch at mid-on after botching up a pull. New batsman Shreyas Iyer then gets the first run on the board with a single. Superb opening over by Avesh, who is playing his first match of the tournament.

OUT! After being greeted by a vicious bouncer, Avesh bowls another short one in the next delivery, and Samson gets a top-edge while looking to pull, lobbing the ball over to Kohli at mid-on. DD 0/1

Samson c Kohli b Avesh 0(2)

The players walk out to the field after the mid-innings interval, with Samson and Nair opening for Delhi as usual. Avesh Khan will bowl the first over of the innings.

RCB’s second half was terrific. They made a mere 66 in the first 10 overs. But the next 10 yielded 95 runs. Good cameos from Pawan Negi and Sachin Baby. Took the score to 161. A challenging total on the pitch that has looked sluggish. If dew stays away the pitch will continue to be sluggish. RCB have good spinners in Chahal and Negi. Medium pacers Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan are playing their first match this season. Avesh is making his IPL debut. He’s an Indian Under 19 cricketer and a promising one at that. Should be a very interesting second half.

Lowest totals defended at Delhi v DD in IPL:

145 by Deccan Chargers  in 2010

148 by Kolkata Knight Riders in 2011

165 by Rajasthan Royals in 2013

RCB have the worst batting line up in the 2017 IPL and it has come to the fore once again. Been a major help fo DD to execute their bowling plans to perfection. Look at the bright side though, Virat Kohli has scored runs and looked very good in his last knock before the Champions Trophy begins. 

After 20 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 161/6 ( Shane Watson 4 , Pawan Negi 13)

Anderson to bowl the final over. Starts off with a wide, which he repeats a couple of deliveries later. Appeal for a catch by Anderson in the third delivery of the over — assuming the ball bounced off the batsman’s foot, which is refuted by the replays. Hat-trick of boundaries for Negi in the next three deliveries, two of them travelling towards the third man fence before he drives the penultimate delivery towards deep extra-cover. Single off the last ball. 16 off the final over of the innings. 

Royal Challengers Bangalore finish on 161/6

After 19 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 146/6 ( Shane Watson 3 , Pawan Negi 0)

Cummins to bowl the 19th over. Baby gets his second boundary in the fourth ball of the over by patting the full delivery down the ground. Cummins then concedes two wides in the next two deliveries, with the second one being called for excessive height. Baby tries going big in the penultimate delivery, but ends up mistiming it to get caught at long-on by Anderson. Pawan Negi walks out to bat, and he’s quite capable of a few big hits.

OUT! Baby perishes while trying to turn this into a big over, mistiming his attempted slog down the ground to get caught by Anderson at long-on. RCB 145/6

Baby c Anderson b Cummins 12(8)

After 18 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 135/5 ( Sachin Baby 8 , Shane Watson 0)

Shami returns to the attack with three overs left in the innings, and starts off with a wide. Baby then guides the second legal delivery of the over towards midwicket to collect a double. Jadhav is run-out in the fourth ball while looking for a quick single, thanks to some sharp fielding both by Cummins at short third man as well as Shami. Baby ends the over with a well-timed drive towards the cover boundary. Meanwhile, we have Watson out at the centre.

OUT! Kedar Jadhav has to walk back to the dugout just when he was starting to look good. Shami does a fine job of palming the throw from Cummins at short third man onto the non-striker’s stumps! RCB 131/5

Jadhav run-out Cummins 12(9)

Most 50-plus scores against a team in IPL:

8 – Chris Gayle v KXIP

8 – David Warner v KXIP

7 – David Warner v RCB 

7 – Suresh Raina v KKR 

7 – VIRAT KOHLI v DD*

Most runs against Delhi Daredevils in IPL:

670 – Rohit Sharma 

661 – VIRAT KOHLI*

632 – Ajinkya Rahane 

551 – Robin Uthappa 

491 – Suresh Raina

After 17 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 126/4 ( Kedar Jadhav 11 , Sachin Baby 1)

DROPPED! Kohli survives on 52, after Zaheer lets go of a return catch after deceiving his RCB counterpart with a slower ball. SIX! Juicy full-toss from the Indian pace legend in the following delivery, and Kohli comfortably clears the midwicket boundary this time! Zaheer though, ensures Kohli doesn’t get away with that drop, as the RCB skipper holes out to long-off while looking to shift gears, getting a bottom edge. Jadhav though, hammers the penultimate ball of Zaheer’s spell straight down the ground for his first big hit. 14 off the over along with the wicket of Kohli in this over. Meanwhile, Sachin Baby walks out to bat.

OUT! Having survived a dropped catch at the start of the 17th over, Kohli finally perishes after miscuing a full delivery outside off from Zaheer, holing out to Nadeem at long-off. RCB 118/4

Kohli c Nadeem b Zaheer 58(45)

After 16 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 112/3 ( Virat Kohli (C) 52 , Kedar Jadhav 5)

Cummins returns to the attack for his third over, and he sticks to bowling full and fast this over, giving away just five runs off it. Now that Kohli has got to his half-century, he should look to accelerate the innings in order to get his side to a competitive total.

After 15 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 107/3 ( Virat Kohli (C) 50 , Kedar Jadhav 2)
 
 

Zaheer returns to the attack. Appeal for run-out at the start of the over after Kohli tries returning for a risky second run, and Head is caught short of the crease at the non-striker’s end, thanks to some fine work between Iyer at midwicket and Zaheer at the stumps. Jadhav joins Kohli at the centre. The RCB skipper gets to his half-century with a single in the last ball of the over. Six runs off the over, along with the run-out.

Fifty for Virat Kohli in 39 balls, and he gets there in quiet fashion, taking a single off the last ball of the 15th over. Fine display by the RCB skipper, whose lack of form was in sync with the team’s fortunes this season, and getting to this milestone is a nice way for him to sign out of what has been a forgettable tournament.

OUT! Travis Head has to depart early as Head is caught short of the non-striker’s crease after a call from Kohli for a risky second run. RCB 102/3

Head run-out (Iyer) 2(2)

Gayle’s dismissal at a very inopportune time. Just when he was looking dangerous. DD bowlers were making him reach for deliveries, especially Anderson. Nadeem’s left arm leg spin never came on. Got the bottom of the bat. Far from the sweet spot. But new man Head and Kohli would make a good sight running between wickets. 

After 14 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 101/2 ( Virat Kohli (C) 46 , Travis Head 2)

Nadeem strikes first ball after the second timeout, as Gayle holes out to midwicket. New batsman Travis Head nearly gets dismissed in the first ball, with the ball rolling away inches from his off-stump after getting a deflection off his arm. The team 100 comes up in the penultimate delivery of the over with a single. Five off the over.

OUT! Nadeem strikes first ball after the second timeout, and Gayle perishes two runs short of his half-century in the last match of this season! Offers a simple catch to Zaheer at midwicket. RCB 96/2

Gayle c Zaheer b Nadeem 48(38)

After 13 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 96/1 ( Chris Gayle 48 , Virat Kohli (C) 44)

Another good over by Anderson, giving away six singles off it, with the umpire calling for the second timeout of the innings. Gayle and Kohli have brought about a stability in the innings so far, and Bangalore look set for a big score tonight, unless they choose to throw it away like they have throughout this season.

Most 50+ stands in IPL:

21 – VIRAT KOHLI/CHRIS GAYLE* 

20 – Shikhar Dhawan/David Warner 

15 – Robin Uthappa/Gautam Gambhir

Very unlike Gayle and Kohli batting. Not dealing in fours and sixes. Gayle just 3 sixes in 12th over. Maybe the Mishra over is the move on over. 2 sixes and 1 four from it. Maximum so far

After 12 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 90/1 ( Chris Gayle 45 , Virat Kohli (C) 41)

Mishra into his second over, and Gayle goes for another og his backfoot slog towards the leg side, getting his third six as a result. Kohli then brings up the 50-stand for the second wicket with a roll of wrists that sends the ball flying into the stands over the midwicket boundary. Follows it up with a flick towards the same region, this time getting a boundary. Huge over for RCB, with 19 coming off it.

After 11 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 71/1 ( Chris Gayle 38 , Virat Kohli (C) 29)

Anderson into his second over, and keeps it tight by giving away five singles in this over. Meanwhile, Kohli and Gayle are starting to build a formidable stand at the moment, and could potentially end of a massive score unless Delhi get a breakthrough at this stage.

Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli’s pair become the first pair to add 3,000 runs in T20 cricket. 

DD have kept things tight in the power play but RCB have their most dangerous batsmen at the crease. That Virat six over cover – what a shot! – was full of intent. Dangerous passage for DD. 

After 10 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 66/1 ( Chris Gayle 36 , Virat Kohli (C) 26)

Nadeem introduced into the attack in the 10th over. After a couple of singles at the start of the over, Kohli guides the third ball of the over down fine-leg to get his second boundary. Seven off the over, with RCB’s star duo helping their side recover at the halfway mark, though they still have some catching up to do in terms of net run-rate.

Pitch looks sluggish. If it is part of DD’s plan to neutralize RCB’s big hitters it could affect their stroke makers too. 

After 9 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 59/1 ( Chris Gayle 35 , Virat Kohli (C) 20)

Anderson introduced into the attack in the ninth over. SIX! Kohli brings up the team 50 in style, lofting the first delivery over extra-cover! Gets a double in the next ball, and nearly colliding with Gayle on his way to his second run. 11 off the over.

After 8 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 48/1 ( Chris Gayle 34 , Virat Kohli (C) 10)

Amit Mishra introduced into the attack in the eighth over. Kohli gets a double in the second delivery after guiding it towards cow-corner, and gets his first boundary in the following delivery, rocking on the backfoot and guiding it towards midwicket. Seven off the over.

Terribly slow powerplay by RCB. Just 37 runs from 6 overs. Importantly Gayle still out there. His big hitting can make huge difference

After 7 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 41/1 ( Chris Gayle 34 , Virat Kohli (C) 3)

Cummins bowls the first over after powerplay, and concedes just four singles off it, with Gayle and Kohli looking to rotate the strike between themselves.

After 6 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 37/1 ( Chris Gayle 32 , Virat Kohli (C) 1)

FOUR! Zaheer attempts a yorker at the start of the final over of powerplay, though Gayle brings his bat down on time to send it scurrying down the ground. Kohli pulls the fourth delivery of the over, but gets only a single off it with a man stationed at deep midwicket. Seven off the over, with RCB getting off to a lukewarm start. The umpire calls for a timeout at the end of the over.

After 5 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 30/1 ( Chris Gayle 26 , Virat Kohli (C) 0)

First change of bowling, with Cummins being introduced into the attack. Gayle gets a thick inside edge in the first delivery that misses the stumps, and allows him to go for a single. Vinod perishes while swinging his bat towards the leg side, and ends up getting his stumps rattled after a bit of an inside-edge. Virat Kohli walks out to bat after the dismissal.

BOWLED! After struggling to connect for some time, Vinod swings his bat to a length delivery from Cummins, and ends up getting an inside edge to his stumps, via a deflection off his thigh. RCB 30/1

Vinod b Cummins 3 (9)

The longer Gayle stays out there the better his chance of getting into his groove and making those big shots he’s known for. Two sixes already and still only warming up.

This is Chris Gayle’s first score in double-digits after his fifty against Gujarat Lions at Rajkot in IPL. His scores after that innings before today were: 7, 8, 0, 0.

After 4 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 27/0 ( Chris Gayle 24 , Vishnu Vinod (W) 2)

Shami into his second over. Gayle goes huge in the fourth ball of the over, going for an almighty pull to a slower ball from Shami to clear the midwicket boundary with comfort. Eight off the over, with RCB not losing any wickets so far.

After 3 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 19/0 ( Chris Gayle 17 , Vishnu Vinod (W) 1)

Zaheer continues from the other end. Vinod finally gets off the mark with a single. Zaheer varies his length in the last two deliveries, both going for dots. Just two off the over.

After 2 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 17/0 ( Chris Gayle 16 , Vishnu Vinod (W) 0)

SIX! Shami fires the second delivery full and wide, and Gayle gets a thick bottom-edge that carries all the way over the third man fence. The big Jamaican flicks the third ball towards short fine, where the ball drops just short of Cummins. Just a single in the remainder of the over, with the other opener Vinod yet to get off the mark.

Last game of the season for both sides. You would think it ought to be a big ticket game. But this has been an indifferent IPL for both teams. RCB with their inconsistencies, DD with their lack of imagination. Expect to see more of the same today. 

After 1 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 10/0 ( Chris Gayle 9 , Vishnu Vinod (W) 0)

Zaheer gets quite close to Gayle’s outside edge with a knuckle ball in the second delivery, before Gayle gets going later in the over with two boundaries — both hit towards the leg side. Add a wide and a single, with 10 coming off the over, and it turns out to be a pretty good first over for RCB.

The players walk out to bat at the start of the RCB innings, with Chris Gayle walking out to bat alongside Vishnu Vinod, who was drafted into the squad after KL Rahul’s injury. Zaheer to bowl the first over. Let the action begin!

Head to Head: (DD v RCB in IPL)

Matches – 18 

DD won – 6

RCB won – 11

NR – 1

Zaheer Khan is playing his 100th IPL match today.

Royal Challengers Bangalore team: Virat Kohli (c), Chris Gayle, Vishnu Vinod, Travis Head, Kedar Jadhav, Sachin Baby, Shane Watson, Pawan Negi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal

Just three international players in the RCB team today — Gayle, Watson and Head.

Delhi Daredevils team: Sanju Samson, Karun Nair, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Marlon Samuels, Corey Anderson, Pat Cummins, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Shahbaz Nadeem, Zaheer Khan (c).

The hosts remain unchanged in their final outing of this season.

TOSS: Royal Challengers Bangalore win the toss, and skipper Virat Kohli elects to bat, looking to exploit a dry surface early on. Opposition captain Zaheer Khan says he would have done the same.

Barring that slaughter by Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn RCB’s bowling has been quite impressive this season. Leg spinners Badree and Chahal have been stand out performers. Pawan Negi too has impressed at key moments.  Would be interesting to see the pace attack they’d opt for. Watson has not been in any sort of form while Milne and Mills have been good in patches. Left arm medium pacer Arvind has played most games. Skipper Kohli believes he is a smart bowler. Just that he needs to be a lot more consistent. A good showing would help most of the players fetch a good purse at next year’s auction. So although this game against DD is inconsequential as far as this season’s IPL is concerned, there is plenty to play for individually.

How would Delhi spectators warm up to rival skipper Virat Kohli? Will the biggest draw in cricket get tumultuous cheers when he slays the home team’s bowling? Of course Kohli would be playing at home and that should throw the spectators off! What better place than home to work himself into serious batting form? This should be an interesting sideshow, except that if Kohli strikes form it could well be the main show! Wonder how DD would feel with their supporters cheering for the rival skipper!

RCB’s last win came nearly a month ago, against Kings XI Punjab whom they beat by 21 runs on April 18. The series of defeats since then notwithstanding, what should give RCB and its fans heart is that they are playing another basement team, DD.  RCB have an excellent win-loss record against DD, having overpowered them 12 times to six in the last 10 years. In fact one of RCB’s two wins this season was against DD whom they beat by 15 runs in Bengaluru.

RCB will be without ABD but have enough big names in Kohli, Gayle, Head and Watson. Head ran into some sort of form in the previous match. If only Gayle, Watson and Kohli can take out all their frustration of this season today we’d have a batting feast to remember.

Hello and welcome. We have finally come to the end of the league phase in IPL 2017. It is RCB taking on Delhi Daredevils. Both the teams have had a forgettable year and neither have found a place in the play-offs. So the match is more of academic interest than anything. But what often happens in such contests is that with not much riding on the result, the teams play with a lot of freedom, which make for a quite a spectacle. One hopes something of that sort do happen, and may be Virat Kohli or Chris Gayle, or indeed Rishabh Pant can end the campaign on a high and give their fans at least something to cheer.