In what is expected to be another thrilling encounter between two sides heavily dependent on their explosive batting line-ups, the Royal Challengers Bangalore will face King XI Punjab in Indore today. RCB will still be led by former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson as Virat Kohli is out due to injury. Meanwhile, AB De Villiers replaces Chris Gayle in the team. The first look at the pitch shows a good covering of grass. And judging from the first look, it looks like a hard pitch, where the batsman can trust the bounce on the surface.
While Bangalore has been heavily dependent on its strong batting line up in all these seasons, the absence of Virat Kohli and ABD, coupled with the Chris Gayles’s lack of form has left them wanting more. Punjab, on the other hand, under the leadership of Glenn Maxwell have played some very aggressive cricket in this IPL and would look to continue in the same route.
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10:40 PM: SIX! Another one. Maxwell tonks this over long on and its a long one!
10.58 pm: SIX! What a shot! Glenn Maxwell finishes off things in style. Kings XI Punjab thrash RCB by 8 wickets.
10:36 PM: SIX! What a shot! Glenn Maxwell in his element today. Slices it over cover point for a six. How small are these boundaries!
10:31 PM: SIX! Amla tonks one over long off.
10:29 PM: OUT! Axar Patel goes for the wild slog and misses. The stumps are al over the place.
10:27 PM: SIX! Short ball and Axar Patel slogs it over deep mid wicket for a six
10:21 PM: Punjab have steadied themselves and are looking on the way to an easy win. But you never know. Things change quickly in the IPL.
10:16 PM: OUT! Manan Vohra dismissed for 34, trapped infront of the wicket
AB De Villers makes full use of the slog overs, scoring 89 of 46 balls, propelling RCB to 148/6. The pitch is not as good as it looked at the beginning of the match. Pace bowlers are getting some help despite the slow nature of the pitch. We will be back LIVE in some time as the 2nd innings assumes.
09:09 PM: SIX! ABD takes charge. Hits it over cover for a maximum
09:00 PM: OUT! Mandeep Singh top edges it, ball goes flying high in the air. Wriddhiman Saha runs a mile and dives to take a brilliant catch
08:42 PM: SIX! Mandeep Singh gets one short of length, hits it over square leg boundary for a huge SIX
08:24 PM: FOUR! ABD breaks the shackles. That was fast, on the leg and ABD flicks it through mid on for a boundary.
08:23 PM: OUT! Kedar Jadhav finds himself trapped in front of the wicket. Tough luck for him. The ball hit him high on the pads.
08:21 PM: Kedar Jadhav is the new man in.
08:14 PM: OUT! Vinod lofts one to Glenn Maxwell at long on. RCB 18/1
8:01 PM: OUT! Shane Watson has been bowled by Axar Patel for 1. RCB 2/1
07:59 PM: Axar Patel opens the bowling for KXIP.
07:57 PM: Shane Watson opens the innings with Vishnu Vinod.
07:44 PM: AB De Villiers replaces Chris Gayle in the RCB team.
07:30: RCB won the toss, elects to bat
Playing XI:
Kings XI Punjab (Playing XI): Hashim Amla, Manan Vohra, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Axar Patel, Glenn Maxwell(c), David Miller, Marcus Stoinis, Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan, Varun Aaron
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Shane Watson(c), Mandeep Singh, AB de Villiers, Kedar Jadhav, Stuart Binny, Vishnu Vinod(w), Pawan Negi, Iqbal Abdulla, Tymal Mills, Yuzvendra Chahal, Billy Stanlake