19:32 IST Thursday, 17 April 2014
Toss: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli wins the toss and chooses to bowl first
Kohli and Co. take the field followed by Delhi Daredevils (DD) openers Mayank Agarwal and Murali Vijay.
Steaming in from the other end is Mitchell Starc.
Agarwal looks to be in good touch. The drive he played oozes masterclass. The fun part is that the lad is from Bangalore and is playing against his own state team.
End of the first over, four off the over.
Albie Morkel runs in from the other end, Agarwal pulls him for a single. Morkel has had a fantastic T20 career with 76 wickets from 79 matches, he is surely one of the assets of the Delhi franchise.
Morkel is keeping things tight, Agarwal looking for the gap but finding the fielder.
Cheeky single from Agarwal.
After two overs, DD 7/0
Vijay goes for the maximum in the first ball of the third over. His intentions are clear. The balls seems to have disappeared.
Agarwal mistimes, ball lands in the safe hands of captain Kohli. First wicket for RCB, Agarwal departs for 6 off 10 balls.
Captain Dinesh Karthik walks in the middle.
Morkel strikes this time, captain Karthik has to go for a duck. Fine catch by Parthiv Patel behind the wicket.
Manoj Tiwary walks in, after having been out due to injury, this is his golden chance to prove himself. Can he rescue DD out of the turmoil?
End of the fourth over, DD 17/2
Speed gun from Jamshedpur comes as a first change, brace yourselves, Varun Aaron clocked a 150 kmph recently, he is fast. And what a start, gets a wicket first ball. Tiwary edges to Patel behind the stumps.
Five overs, DD 17/3
End of sixth over, DD 30/3
Aaron starts the seventh over, RCB bowling coach Allan Donald seems to have worked his magic on the bowlers. They look unplayable. Vijay is the only batsman standing tall in front of the deadly bowling. He has reached 17 off 18 balls. Giving him company on the other end is JP Duminy who can be dangerous in the middle overs as well as the death.
The strategic time-out seems to have worked for RCB too as DD lose fourth wicket. Leggie YS Chahal runs through Vijay's defence. Chahal, previously a member of Mumbai Indians, is a Haryana cricketer and has 25 wickets from 14 first-class matches.
Ross Taylor comes out.
Can the foreigners prove their worth?
Eight overs, DD 36/4
Aaron is generating good pace and mixing his deliveries well with bouncers and the slower ones. One more, Duminy misjudges a bouncer, but falls short off Patel. Pace could be quite a factor in T20 cricket, if timed well, the ball will race to the boundary but otherwise, it is all on the luck of the batsman. DD is trying to step up their game. They have 11 overs to do that and very few wickets.
Next to bat: Jimmy Neeshan, Wayne Parnell
Nine overs, DD 40/4
Chahal starts the 10th over, he has looked impressive so far. JP Duminy is trying to play the anchor, maybe they are looking at the last seven to eight overs to break free.
DD 49/4, 10 overs
Former Pune Warriors bowler, Ashoke Dinda, brought into the attack, he has had a good Ranji Trophy for Bengal and will look to continue his fine run. Dinda also has a good T20 record with 17 wickets in his kitty from nine matches.
Duminy takes a couple off the last ball of the 11th over, nine runs from the over.
DD 58/4, 11 overs
Chahal is mixing hi deliveries well, bowls the wrong one, Duminy taken aback. The next ball, he chooses to step out and play with the spin. Taylor cuts Chahal and takes a single and almost fell in trouble trying to negotiate a run with Duminy in the middle of the pitch.
DD 63/4, 12 overs
Dinda starts again, Taylor drives him but cut off by Starc in the boundary.
Taylor finds the boundary at last in the fourth ball of the over. Duminy takes single off the last ball and keeps the strike. These two batsmen are trying to get the partnership going. They maybe upto some fireworks towards the death overs. It remains to be seen whether the RCB bowlers can maintain their economy rate till the end of DD innings, that is the fun of T20 cricket.
Ladies and gentleman, fasten your seatbelts, here comes the most expensive player of IPL 7, Yuvraj Singh brought into the attack. A lot has been said and done about him and his cricket post the auctions and his laboured innings of 11 from 21 balls in the World T20 final. This is where Yuvraj can turn the tide and rise from the ashes. Tidy over.
DD 79/4, 14 overs
Duminy and Taylor add 46 runs off 45 for the fifth wicket. They are rotating the strikes well and now they have to cut loose in the last few overs. They are big hitters and are capable of clearing the rope, hence, DD still have a chance to post a competitive total.
Virat Kohli is throwing himself on the field to stop runs and throwing direct to the stumps.
First six of the match, Duminy takes the aerial route off Yuvraj.
In nine T20 matches in Sharjah, six times the team batting first has won, can it be Delhi's day?
DD 93/4, 16 overs
100 up for DD, Duminy racing towards a hard-fought fifty, Taylor supporting him well from the other end.
Duminy batting on a run-a-ball 42, Dinda on the attack, and the South African goes for the big one. The next one goes for a boundary and Duminy reaches his 50. Is it that over they were looking for? Dindia bowls a slower one.
14 off the over, the highest till-now for DD.
DD 115/4, 18 overs
Taylor seems to have lost his golden hand-eye co-ordination as he is struggling to judge Starc. The same was seen when he could not interpret Dale Steyn in the recently concluded World T20 tournament, the match where New Zealand lost by five runs to South Africa.
However, a score of 140 is expected now. At one point of time, it looked DD won't even reach 100.
Duminy lofts it over long on for a boundary off the last ball of the 19th over.
DD 128/4, 19 overs
Last over, Taylor starts off with a boundary, Sachin Rana tries hard to stop.
A couple of the next. Dinda has been expensive for RCB, now his figures read 3.3-0-40-0
Duminy takes guard for the last two balls, hits Dinda for another six. And ends with a boundary.
A fine innings by the South African who guides DD to a safe total of 145/4 after the end of 20 overs.
JP Duminy 67* (48); Ross Taylor 43* (39); Chahal 1/18, Aaron 1/9
Target for RCB: 146
First wicket down for RCB, Mohammad Shami strikes, Nick Maddinson edges to Dinesh Karthik.
Kohli walks in, Wayne Parnell from the other end, Patel pulls him for a boundary.
End of third over, RCB 17/1
Shami is moving the ball, Patel going for the cut but misses it. Wide ball, pressure on DD bowlers as they look for another wicket. The new ball is generating good pace tonight. After Aaron, it is Shami's turn now. Patel comes down the track and hits Shami for a couple of boundaries.
Now Karthik brings in a slip in place.
Kohli goes for a shot, misjudges, but the ball races to the boundary.
Patel slices Parnell to end the fifth over with a boundary.
RCB 37/1
Patel is playing a blinder, goes for the maximum off Shahbaz Nadeem. He is batting on 29 off 19. RCB is moving at 8.25 per over, more than the required 6.25. The Baroda boy is on fire, sweeps Nadeem for a boundary now and then, settles with a single.
RCB races away to 50/1 off only six overs. Duminy comes into the attack. In the meanwhile, Yuvraj is padded up. Kohli is happy taking singles and giving the strike to Patel. With so many big guns in the team like Yuvraj, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Patel lost the limelight but then, he is playing under no pressure. And no wonder he is enjoying his game.
Patel and Kohli complete 50-run partnership. After eight overs, RCB 60/1.
Rahul Sharma comes into the attack and cleans up the dangerous Patel. He departs for 37 off 28. Yuvraj walks in, and looks uncomfortable against Shami.
Shami bowls a bouncer, Yuvraj dunks yet pulls for a boundary. The target looks easy for RCB now, they require 77 off 62 balls now.
RCB 69/2, 10 overs.
Yuvraj is on song, greets Sharma with a six. But the duo settle with singles to complete the over.
Karthik throws the ball to Jimmy Neesham. Yuvraj misses the slower one from Neesham. But he doesn't take much time to judge a bowler, hits a boundary off the next delivery.
RCB 86/2, 12 overs.
Parnell almost got the better of Kohli. The captain flicked to Neesham's hand but it was not safe enough. Such chances don't come. Has it cost DD the match? 59 required off 45 balls. Even in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders, Lasith Malinga dropped Jacques Kallis which cost them the match. It is said that catches win matches but now, Kohli dropped for the second time.
Kohli joins the party, goes for the maximum, pacing his innings cleverly, he has moved to 32 off 31 now. Yuvraj ends the over with a six.
RCB 104/2, 14 overs
Kohli looks to be in a hurry to finish off things, goes for two back-to-back sixes. Yuvraj joins the party. Twenty runs off the over.
Now RCB need 20 off 25 balls. Yuvraj clears the rope.
RCB 132/2, 16 overs.
Yuvraj leads from the front, another six and a boundary to reach his half-century. Kohli scores the winning run.
RCB beat DD by eight wickets.
Final scores: RCB 146/2 in 16.4 overs (Y Singh 52*; V Kohli 49*; M Shami 1/30) bt DD 145/4 (JP Duminy 67*, R Taylor 43*; Chahal 1/18)
Delhi Darevils take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in the second match of IPL-7 today at Sharjah.
RCB start as favourites to win this game, with a batting line-up that would be the envy of any other team in the IPL. When you have Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB DeVilliers in your side, you should be a serious contender to the title.
Bangalore, however, have failed to win the trophy any of the six IPL seasons so far. They reached the finals in 2009, but failed to make it past the eliminators thereafter.
The RCB bowling side is considered weak this time around, with Ashok Dinda, Varun Aaron, an ageing Mutthiah Muralitharan, Ravi Rampaul and Mitchell Starc making up the ranks. With Gayle and DeVillers natural picks, Bangalore can pick just two out of Starc, Rampaul and Muralitharan, which further reduces their bowling strength. However, a surprise performance from the RCB bowlers may just be in the offing.
The other point of discussion is Yuvraj Singh, whose horrendous performance in the World Twenty20 final probably cost India the match. He would like to forget that quickly, and justify the high price at which he has been purchased. A good IPL season could resurrect both his ODI and Test careers.
Delhi Daredevils will not be led by Pietersen in this match - he is out with an injury. Dinesh Karthik will take his place. Karthik's team will rely on the likes of Murali Vijay, Karthik himself, Ross Taylor and JP Duminy to put up a good score.
The Delhi bowling seems of moderate strength. Wayne Parnell and Mohammad Shami will have to play a big role, but Rahul Sharma's spin could come in handy on the slow wickets.
Delhi and Bangalore have a 5-5 record against each other in the IPL. The team winning the toss should ideally bat first, though RCB will also back their chasing capabilities with the kind of batting prowess they possess.
| Edited By: Wriddhaayan Bhattacharyya / Pranav Joshi |Source: DNA webdesk |Updated: Sep 29, 2017, 03:43 PM IST
