Live blog - Du Plessis, Kohli begin RCB's chase

8m ago

78 runs in five overs. Boundaries from both ends. Du Plessis with an 18-ball fity. There's no stopping Faf du Plessis and Kohli.

Here's Ashish Pant again: "They have taken only nine balls to go past what GT managed in their entire powerplay. They certainly have an eye on the NRR. The roof has come off at Chinnaswamy who are roaring with every shot they are hitting. Kohli even did a small jig after du Plessis reached his fifty. Took him only 24 minutes to reach there. RCB’s highest powerplay score in the history of IPL. Is it too late though?"

15m ago

21m ago

If Virat can help take 14 off the first over, then the captain du Plessis says he can do 20!

Welcomes Ireland's Josh Little back into the IPL with a hammering all around the park. And in the process, also brings up 10000+ runs in T20 cricket. An elite list.

RCB 34/0 in 2 overs

31m ago

First ball of the second innings, and Kohli gets a slot ball from Mohit Sharma. VK drives to cover but David Miller dives, stops the ball with one hand, and nearly gets Kohli out with the batter struggling to turn back and return. Next ball, Kohli gets rid of all jitters by creaming Mohit for six over cover.

Even the drive off the possible run-out was exquisitely timed. It was only Miller's athleticism that stopped a first-ball four.

And just to prove the point on how good he looks, he skips down the ground to deposit Mohit for another six over midwicket.

RCB 14/0 in 1 overs

47m ago

1h ago

With Rashid Khan for company, Rahul Tewatia unleashes his bag of strikes in the 16th over. He takes a liking for Karn Sharma and brings up the innings' most expensive over (19 runs).

Tewatia on 29, Rashid on 10, partnership going at 10+ per over, and Titans at 121/5 in 16 overs

1h ago

BOOM! The superstar has struck. Like an animal on the prowl, he spots a wandering prey outside his safety zone, and he swoops in swiftly to aim and throw the stumps down.

Shahrukh, the non-striker, considered taking a run after Tewatia knocked a ball to the off-side, but his partner was not interested. Then, Shahrukh hesitated in turning back, and that was enough time for Kohli to strike.

It was a difficult throw since Kohli's aim at the stumps was blocked by Shahrukh's route back, but he found a way. The in-form batter is also gone, this time rather unnecessarily, and GT are 88/5 in 13 overs

Here's Ashish from the stadium: "The decibel level went up a few notches after Kohli effected that run out. Once the decision was confirmed, he stepped aside from the huddle, waved his hand and blew a flying kiss to someone. Just when GT were looking to up the scoring rate, they are back to the rebuilding phase."

1h ago

He dropped Miller in the 11th over at deep backward square leg, and then conceded a six off the same batter at the start of the 12th over.

However, Karn does get redemption and folds his hands in a prayer as Miller holes out to long on. He's gone for an important 20-ball 30.

Titans 84/4 in 12 overs with left-hander (Tewatia) replacing left-hander.

1h ago

1h ago

5.12 GT's run-rate after eight overs

These two have found some boundaries despite being tested by Green and Dayal. Just what GT needed after the horror powerplay. Tewatia, Rashid and Suthar (a very handy bat) are still left, along with the possibility of an impact sub batter. Therefore, there's no reason why GT can't finish at a score of 170+. This is the Chinnaswamy after all.

If they do use an impact batter now itself, then Shahrukh and Tewatia can bowl some overs if needed as a worst-case scenario.

2h ago

The Titans had the worst run-rate for IPL 2024 powerplays but this is a new low for them. Only 23 runs and three wickets lost in six overs! However, if they need some motivation, they don't need to look too far back. Yesterday, KKR crawled back from 28/3 and 57/5 to win by 24 runs.

Here's how the PP went:

Sai Sudharsan, the Titans' best batter this season, is also gone for a 14-ball 6 to Cameron Green. Interestingly, that's the first time in his IPL career Sai has been out in single digits. His wicket leaves the Titans in a deep hole. Titans 23/3 in six overs

Some lateral movement in Siraj's deliveries tonight. It was enough to get Saha to edge a rising delivery behind. And it is enough to force Gill to slice a shot to deep point.

That's Gill's third-single digit score in four IPL innings and No. 4 Shahrukh Khan is in now.

Shahrukh gets a four first ball to finally earn GT a boundary after 3.6 overs, but perhaps aptly, it was not in control, as Siraj got him to inside-edge a ball very nearly onto his stumps.

GT 14/2 in four overs and here's Ashish Pant again with some thoughts from the ground: It rained for three hours yesterday and the covered pitch seems to have retained some moisture. Coupled with the greenish tinge, the seamers have enjoyed proceedings. Siraj has found his lengths right away and that swing that was missing earlier. The Gill dismissal was all down to the seam movement.

2h ago

2h ago

2h ago

Left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh starts proceedings like the previous game. That time he dismissed Wriddhiman Saha in the first over itself. This time no wicket, but five dots, which is quite awesome in itself.

GT 1/0 in one over, with Siraj from the other end.

3h ago

Wasim Jaffer and Mitchell McClenaghan said in the video preview that GT shouldn't use three spinners again, but looks like they have gone with three anyway.

They have bolstered their fast bowling though with left-arm quick Josh Little replacing Azmatullah Omarzai, who is more of a seam-bowling allrounder. Omarzai could swing it both ways but we haven't seen much impact from him. Maybe Little can get them the breakthroughs with the left-armer's angle + his swing.

3h ago

3h ago

Will Jacks blew the Titans away when they met last week. That was the last match for both sides. Does that give RCB the upper hand mentally? RCB have a terrible record at home (49%) among games won.

More from Ashish Pant from the Chinnaswamy: "The teams had a slight taste of the Bengaluru traffic with their busses stuck in traffic near the venue. It rained for a few hours last evening, but no such threats today, though it is unusually humid.

Kohli had a long net session yesterday, with a specific focus on spinners. He did get out several times but also hit a few into the stands much to the delight of a few spectators in. Coming to today, it is expected to be another packed crowd. Most of the stands are already full, and there is a huge queue outside. Spencer and Vyshak marked their run-ups and even Ashish Nehra is having a bowl! The surface has a bit of grass on it. It's the one to the right of the centre strip."

3h ago

The joke doing the rounds is that the three teams involved in completing the Hardik move between seasons are all at the bottom three of the points table. Remember, MI could do the trade only after getting Cameron Green traded out to RCB. And of course, the Titans have never been the same since Hardik's exit and Shami's unavailability.

But enough of Hardik chat. Believe it or not, no team in IPL 2024 is yet eliminated with RCB having a theoretical chance to qualify and the Titans needing 4 wins out of 4 to make a strong claim to the top four. A lot is riding on today's game, and with the action returning to Bengaluru, we could be back seeing lots of runs after a string of middling totals in the last few nights.

0 Wins by teams batting first in Bengaluru since IPL 2023

Faf du Plessis c Shahrukh Khan b Little 64 (23b 10x4 3x6) SR: 278.26