World's best batsmen strike again

Hello and welcome to live commentary and match updates of the IPL match #48, between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday.

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Man of the Match and winning Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli winces as the stitches on the webbing of his hand were aggravated during the innings, but he doesn't mind so long as RCB keeps winning. Brave words from a courageous chap.

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir acknowledges what a crucial catch he dropped when he grassed that Kohli square-cut. Hopes Russell is back on his feet soon, before the next game. So do we, Gautam. So do we.

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Did Kolkata Knight Riders have enough runs on the board with their 183/5? You get the feeling any score would have been below par given the felicity that Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers display during chases — this was their fifth century partnership this season. All in a day's work.

But it wasn't all predictable. There was one anomaly — Chris Gayle got going. Nearly getting a fifty, the swashbuckling Caribbean batsman swung a heavy bat tonight to get Royal Challengers Bangalore off to a lightning start. Gautam Gambhir didn't want to drop Kohli. But he did. And thus, the writing was etched on the wall. Kohli and de Villiers are quite the power pair, aren't they? Something like Will and Jada Smith. Bonnie and Clyde. Simon and Garfunkel.

Anyway, this doesn't hurt KKR as much as it relieves RCB, who are now up one spot, at 5th. And the hosts stay embedded at 2nd position on the table.

RCB 186/1 after 18.4 overs (AB de Villiers 59 off 31 | V Kohli 75 off 51 || win by 9 wickets)

And again. And again. Kohli has unfurled his wrists to manufacture another off-to-on power-flick. And this time it's a six over Mid-wicket. Russell can only scratch the lonely peak on his head, on which Kohli sits proudly. Oh, but Russell has left the field now, after slipping and injuring his ankle, by the looks of it. And as Piyush Chawla comes on to finish the remaining three balls in the over, de Villiers has plans to chase Russell back to the pavillion. A cute paddle for four ends the no-contest.

RCB 173/1 after 18 overs (AB de Villiers 48 off 27 | V Kohli 58 off 44 || need 11 runs from 12 balls)

Whoa. Only Kohli. Only Kohli's wrists. Only the boundary when you use just the wrist muscles to twang a ball from outside off into the Long-on fence for four . AB, though, is dealing in thick edges. And this would seem to be the over that seals it. 16 runs off it.

RCB 157/1 after 17 overs (AB de Villiers 48 off 27 | V Kohli 58 off 44 || need 27 runs from 18 balls)

A real sense of thrust here being displayed by this marauding duo. First ball of Shakib's fourth over is reverse-swept for four by Kohli. And then de Villiers gets a thick edge that races away through Third-man for another four . 13 runs off that over.

RCB 144/1 after 16 overs (AB de Villiers 41 off 24 | V Kohli 52 off 41 || need 40 runs from 24 balls)

And again, de Villiers has tonked the final ball, this time of Narine's over, for six . 9 runs knocked off the tab.

RCB 135/1 after 15 overs (AB de Villiers 34 off 22 | V Kohli 50 off 37 || need 49 runs from 30 balls)

Whoosh. AB has pushed that last ball of the otherwise decent Shakib over for a humongous six over Square-leg. And Kohli got his fifty. Blah and yawn. What else is new?

RCB 125/1 after 14 overs (AB de Villiers 26 off 19 | V Kohli 48 off 34 || need 59 runs from 36 balls)

There's another false shot to the spinner. AB tries to sweep that straight and almost chops the inside-edge onto his stumps. How did that miss? And Kohli, now, steps out and stoops to lift the ball over the straight boundary for a six that surfed the air for a long time. 13 off the over. And the second Time-Out.

RCB 112/1 after 13 overs (AB de Villiers 22 off 16 | V Kohli 39 off 31 || need 72 runs from 42 balls)

And de Villiers gets his first six of the innings, over Cover. Helicopter follow-through once again, as he strives to play it with an open-faced bottom-handed chip. 11 runs off the Shakib over.

RCB 101/1 after 12 overs (AB de Villiers 13 off 11 | V Kohli 38 off 30 || need 83 runs from 48 balls)

Piyush Chawla back now. And bowls another quiet over. Just 5 runs. Should have been more with the length he was bowling. But hey, even the best of batsmen deserve to go into their shell to play spinners out.

RCB 96/1 after 11 overs (AB de Villiers 12 off 9 | V Kohli 34 off 26 || need 88 runs from 54 balls)

Kohli treats Shakib with respect, but then tonks him into Gambhir's hands at Point. Wait. It's popped out! Someone tell Gambhir you don't drop Kohli. You don't drop Kohli.

RCB 91/1 after 10 overs (AB de Villiers 10 off 7 | V Kohli 31 off 22 || need 93 runs from 60 balls)

A 9-run over by Narine, where he bamboozled and nearly bowled Kohli on a couple of occasions, only to be flayed through Point for four .

RCB 82/1 after 9 overs (AB de Villiers 10 off 7 | V Kohli 22 off 16 || need 102 runs from 66 balls)

Rajpoot bowled a stifiling first over. But it's de Villiers at the crease this time. Who can manufacture shots with a last-minute twirl that can dig that bowl out and into the gap between Point and Cover for four , and then power a half-volley into the straight fence. 10 off the over. And it's a Strategic Time-Out.

RCB 72/1 after 8 overs (AB de Villiers 1 off 2 | V Kohli 21 off 15 || need 112 runs from 72 balls)

Gayle (49 from 31) mauls Sunil Narine for a six on the off-side and then finds himself unable to react to one that skids on to his pad before the leg stump. Exciting innings comes to an end from Gayle, even as his West-Indian teammate is ecstatic. And guess who that brings to the crease?

AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli are together again. Can they shine once more to keep their team afloat?

RCB 65/0 after 7 overs (C Gayle 43 off 28 | V Kohli 21 off 14 || need 119 runs from 78 balls)

And now the 22-year old Ankit Rajpoot is into the attack. And bowls an unnaturally quiet over, for just 2 runs. Skiddy and into-the-body.

RCB 63/0 after 6 overs (C Gayle 42 off 24 | V Kohli 20 off 12 || need 121 runs from 84 balls)

Gayle is truly channelling his old self here tonight, as he ends the Powerplay with a ballooning sixer over Cow-Corner.

RCB 53/0 after 5 overs (C Gayle 35 off 21 | V Kohli 17 off 9)

Gayle is swinging like a man possessed here. Clatters Sunil Narine into the Square-leg boundary for four and then slices it over Cover for another four .

RCB 44/0 after 4 overs (C Gayle 26 off 15 | V Kohli 17 off 9)

As a slight drizzle now commences, Gayle uppercuts it for a one-bounce four over Third-man. He's been all about sixes and one-bounce fours this innings so far. And oh! Kohli has just glided down the track to play, nay, craft a profoundly aesthetic inside-out loft for six over Extra Cover. That needs to be a move in a classical dance form.

RCB 32/0 after 3 overs (C Gayle 21 off 13 | V Kohli 10 off 5)

Kohli has played a gorgeous flick off his feet into the Mid-wicket fence for four , all elegance. And now Gayle has now just sat back and bashed that short ball for a straight six like a baseball player. And again, another short ball disappears, flat as you like, over Mid-wicket for yet another six .

RCB 15/0 after 2 overs (C Gayle 9 off 10 | V Kohli 5 off 2)

Gayle is in a murderous mood. Even if he is swinging and missing. And sure enough, Morne Morkel finds the middle of Gayle's bat with a length ball that goes flying for a four over Long-on, then again with a short ball that's swivel-pulled over Mid-wicket for another four . The third is swished at with great force and the wind picks up momentarily at Eden Gardens.

RCB 7/0 after 1 over (C Gayle 1 off 4 | V Kohli 5 off 2)

And Andre Russell opens for Kolkata Knight Riders, straight after the fleeting innings break. Ooh. He's fed Chris Gayle some dribblle off the same medicine he got from Chris Jordan a few overs ago. Almost fells the giant Oak tree that is Gayle with a violent yorker. Gayle needs more confidence in his life at the moment, not unplayable yorkers. Virat Kohli, though, is in a different zone altogether. Rocks on the back-foot and powers it through Square-leg for four .

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And Kolkata Knight Riders may have done better than they may have expected at the 15-over mark or so, a period where wickets had fallen at acute intervals. Andre Russell aned Shakib Al Hasan muscled quite a few balls that should never have been muscled under normal circumstances. Earlier, Gautam Gambhir and Manish Pandey enjoyed a 76-run partnership for the second wicket at the start. The spinners were either "all over the place" or "just out of the batsmen's reach" — it was hard to tell. This should be an interesting chase for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

More importantly. Will Chris Gayle come alive tonight?

KKR 183/5 after 20 overs (S Hasan 18 off 11 | A Russell 39 off 19)

Well, Watson's as good a death bowler as any. But even if he bowls two unhittable balls, the third is a full-toss that gets yanked away flat over Point for... oooh, a four . Another juicy full-toss, but Russell makes a meal of that one. And there's an unfair wide call if ever there was one — Watson bowls it across a flailing Shakib and they run through. And Russell misses out on the final delivery.

KKR 171/5 after 19 overs (S Hasan 16 off 9 | A Russell 31 off 15)

Jordan is back on to curb these two marauders at the death. And topples Shakib with a vicious yorker. Aw, that's a shame — Jordan didn't deserve to be called wide there, as he saw Russell advancing and twisted his shoulder to bowl it just a bit excessively wide. And he fells a batsman yet again. Toe-crushers never had a better expression than Jordan at the death.

Jordan won't be able finish his full quota of four overs. Was this poor captaincy?

KKR 161/5 after 18 overs (S Hasan 13 off 5 | A Russell 24 off 12)

Shakib now gets down on his knees, and 9-irons it over Cow-Corner for six . Tries again next ball, but Watson is a wily bowler. Russell, now, plays a scoop-sweep-flick through Square-leg for six . AB was sprinting so rapidly along the Long-on boundary that he met Russell's slap at nearly the same velocity as it was hit, saving crucial runs.

KKR 145/5 after 17 overs (S Hasan 6 off 3 | A Russell 18 off 9)

Russell is looking at 180 here, as he absolutely creams it between fielders diving over each other running along the boundary from Cover and Point for four . It's hard to tell if Chahal is tossing it up so wide because he's petrified of being slapped or if it's an actual tactic.

KKR 137/5 after 16 overs (S Hasan 5 off 2 | A Russell 9 off 4)

And now, Yadav (5 from 5) is gone caught, trying to loft it out of the park. The wickets are tumbling here. They don't have very many more batsmen left to take them to 180 and beyond. Shakib Al Hasan is in, though. Russell powers a sixer over Mid-wicket, and Shakib carves it through Cover for a four . A timely 13-run over to counteract the fall of wickets for KKR.

KKR 124/4 after 15 overs (S Yadav 5 off 4 | A Russell 1 off 1)

Now, Pathan (6 from 12) is gone, stumped trying to send a Chahal drifter into orbit. He was invited, he obliged mightily. He was so keen on launching that, even his long legs couldn't reach him back into the crease. That brings Suryakumar Yadav into the middle. Chahal's bowled a great over here, drifting and turning the ball with great big rips, unlucky not to have Yadav knicking one into Rahul's hands.

KKR 118/3 after 14 overs (Y Pathan 5 off 10 | A Russell 0 off 0)

Pandey is a dynamic batsman. That's what he is. I was wondering what to call his contorted body positions at point of contact. He is unhinging his arms from his body, and using each limb independently to work the ball into gaps that a rigid body wouldn't have allowed him to penetrate. He muscles the first ball for four through Point. But this dynamism is Pandey's (50 35) undoing, as he tries to manufacture three different shots off the same ball, and ends up playing it into AB de Villiers' hands at Long-on. Another half-centurion gives it away.

KKR 107/2 after 13 overs (Y Pathan 4 off 8 | M Pandey 45 off 32)

Right. Pathan's headgear has come off. He is obviously rolling up his sleeves here. Abdulla is also following the same strategy — if you can call it that — of bowling outside the batsman's reach. The batsmen are so taken aback that they are unable to convert it. Not a bad ploy, it turns out.

KKR 100/2 after 12 overs (Y Pathan 1 off 5 | M Pandey 43 off 29)

Pandey. Pandey. Pandey. How can you hit a sixer that doesn't rise more than 8 feet off the ground? Absolutely a maniacal shot through Mid-wicket. Watson can only try to blend his shock into awe. 100 up this over.

KKR 91/2 after 11 overs (Y Pathan 0 off 2 | M Pandey 35 off 26)

Another running mix-up. These two may have unlimited skill but they have zero wavelength. This time, Gambhir (51 from 34) is stuck between no-man's land and timbuktu here, utterly unresponsive to the haring Pandey, and has to go after a sturdy half-century. What a pity this is. The captain was looking good for plenty more.

KKR 87/1 after 10 overs (G Gambhir 50 off 33 | M Pandey 33 off 24)

Pandey needs to calm down. Or his bat is going to crack soon, the way he is thumping at every ball. Oh and look, Gambhir gets to his fifty. And is he pumped up or what? That's his 31st IPL fifty.

KKR 83/1 after 9 overs (G Gambhir 46 off 29 | M Pandey 32 off 21)

Chahal is stretching to keep the ball away from Pandey's sweetspot, but if he thinks bowling outside the popping crease is a solution, the umpire's outstretched arms should knock some sense into him. No boundaries that over, though it went for 8 runs.

KKR 74/1 after 8 overs (G Gambhir 43 off 27 | M Pandey 29 off 13)

Oh my, what happened there? Pandey flat-batted one of the worst-timed back-foot slaps to Mid-off, and takes off for a run, triggering a panic in Gambhir, doesn't know which end of the pitch to go, and Pandey seems to juuuuust drag his bat back in at the non-striker's end, even as Gambhir races back the entire pitch for his dear wicket.

KKR 67/1 after 7 overs (G Gambhir 35 off 24 | M Pandey 26 off 14)

A rambunctious six goes sailing over Mid-wicket courtesy the middle of Pandey's bat. He is in his zone, pretty much, safe t osay. Gambhir is now moving his feet like an athlete, jogging down the pitch to loft a googly for four over Cover, and then moving away swiftly and carving it away through Point for another . 16 runs from that over by Yuzvendra Chahal.

KKR 51/1 after 6 overs (G Gambhir 31 off 22 | M Pandey 19 off 11)

Gambhir and Pandey are now get into the mild pace of Shane Watson, the left-hander biffs it to the onside for four and then Pandey strikes it through the off-side for another . And Time-Out.

KKR 42/1 after 5 overs (G Gambhir 25 off 17 | M Pandey 15 off 9)

Gambhir is still going strong, paddling Abdulla through Short Fine-leg for four . 9 runs come off that over.

KKR 33/1 after 4 overs (G Gambhir 18 off 13 | M Pandey 13 off 7)

Pandey is something of a whirlwind here. As Gambhir gets the party started with a vicious pull for four , Pandey swings hard twice and powers it twice to the leg-side boundary for two more fours . 15 off that over.

KKR 18/1 after 3 overs (G Gambhir 12 off 10 | M Pandey 4 off 4)

And Uthappa (2 from 4 balls) is gone here with a soft dismissal, trying to work it on the on-side but feeding a leading edge straight back into Iqbal Abdulla's hands.

Whoa. Manish Pandey no sooner steps on to the wicket than he slaps the ball to the Square-leg boundary for four .

KKR 14/0 after 2 overs (G Gambhir 12 off 10 | R Uthappa 2 off 2)

As Chris Gayle chirps away on his earpiece, Gambhir and Uthappa play out S Aravind's over for six runs, including a four that — I swear — acquired more pace from the ground. It rolled away from the diving fielder at the Mid-wicket boundary like George Clooney drifts inexorably away from Sandra Bullock's grasp in Gravity .

KKR 7/0 after 1 over (G Gambhir 7 off 5 | R Uthappa 1 off 1)

Stuart Binny was trying to work up some swing out there. He tried once too often, and Gautam Gambhir latched on to the full delivery outside off and carved it through Cover for four .

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Virat Kohli wins the toss and Royal Challengers Bangalore will bowl first . So, the coin finally landed Kohli's way, allowing him to chase to his heart's content. Let's hope the Kolkata Knight Riders put up a massive enough total to allow Kohli scope for another swashbuckling knock. But two in a row too much to expect, even from the prolific run-getter? Well, that was before he hit three tons in a T20 series.

Kolkata Knight Riders have made no changes to their side today...

G Gambhir*, RV Uthappa†, MK Pandey, YK Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, SA Yadav, AD Russell, PP Chawla, SP Narine, AS Rajpoot, M Morkel

Royal Cahallengers Bangalore are going with an extra spinner, Iqbal Abdulla in place of Varun Aaron...

CH Gayle, V Kohli*, AB de Villiers, SR Watson, KL Rahul†, Sachin Baby, STR Binny, CJ Jordan, S Aravind, Iqbal Abdulla, YS Chahal

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Kolkata Knight Riders, placed second from the top of the table with 7 wins from the 11 matches they have played so far, are comfortably poised to go into the playoffs. They could use the win today to expedite that. Royal Challengers Bangalore, though, are straggling at the sixth spot, having won just 5 out of their 11 games so far. Virat Kohli may be the current holder of the Orange Cap, but as captain he may have more use for victories than individual runs. >This should be an interesting game...

Kolkata Knight Riders Squad

G Gambhir*, PP Chawla, GB Hogg, JO Holder, SP Jackson, Kuldeep Yadav, CA Lynn, Manan Sharma, M Morkel, C Munro, SP Narine, MK Pandey, YK Pathan, AS Rajpoot, AD Russell, R Sathish, Shakib Al Hasan, SW Tait, JD Unadkat, RV Uthappa, SA Yadav, UT Yadav

Royal Challengers Bangalore Squad

V Kohli*, VR Aaron, AN Ahmed, S Aravind, STR Binny, YS Chahal, AB de Villiers, P Dubey, CH Gayle, TM Head, Iqbal Abdulla, KM Jadhav, CJ Jordan, AK Karnewar, SN Khan, VS Malik, Mandeep Singh, Parvez Rasool, HV Patel, KL Rahul, KW Richardson, Sachin Baby, T Shamsi, V Tokas, SR Watson, D Wiese