Ice-cool Wadhera silences the crowd
Shashank Singh tries to lift Bhuvi off a length, goes through the line and holes out to long-on. The crowd finds its voice with the visitors needing 15 off 15. But Wadhera gets back on strike, helps one off the hip over fine leg and is all smiles. Some people are already walking out, they'll quicken up as the next ball is slapped through extra cover.
Marcus Stoinis finishes it off with 11 balls to spare. Stays leg side of the ball and clatters the shortish ball over midwicket. Cross-bat shots risky? Not to big Stoin! RCB put up a good fight but remain winless at home.
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Wadhera pulls it in PBKS' favour
Hazlewood might feel like he's back in Australia, bowling on this pitch. He's getting extra bounce from a shortish length and beating batters on the cut. He goes for just two off his last over but can't get a wicket.
With 32 needed off 24, it was getting nervy. But Wadhera got an overpitched, wide ball from Suyash to start the over. It was duly deposited over long-off. Then a fullish legbreak from around the wicket ripped square, beat not only the cover drive but also the keeper. Four byes. Overpitched again, this time it's nailed through cover, the asking rate sinks below run a ball with three overs to go.
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See-saw
Suyash Sharma bowled a couple of googlies, kept it around a good length and beat Nehal Wadhera's bat four times. But the tension was dissipated by a four and a six off the last two balls to bring the equation down to 33 off 30.
A reverse sweep wasn't middled but bisected short third and backward point. Kohli had a word with Suyash after but that didn't work. A loopy length ball at the stumps was walloped over cow corner.
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Hazlegood
Hazlewood's back finding success off a hard length. He gets both Shreyas and Inglis on the cut.
To Shreyas, it's a rising length ball on fourth stump that seems to lose little to no pace off the pitch. An edged cut flies high and Jitesh leaps high and fast to take the catch.
To Inglis, the ball's a touch shorter and, I dare say, easier for the cut. Inglis went for it and top edged it to deep third. 44 needed off 36 with six wickets to go. Can there actually be another upset?
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No place for darting
New-age spin is built on firing the ball through and shuffling lines. Wikipedia even has a name for it - fruit-salad - but the last three games in the IPL have hit back on that theory with a vengeance.
Chahal got a POTM in PBKS' last game and wickets today by slowing it down. When Krunal Pandya came on, the asking rate rising towards seven, but he is a defensive bowler and skidded the ball through off shortish lengths. Josh Inglis first pulled and then cut him before he gave the ball air to stack a couple of dots. But at 46 for 2 after six, the asking rate has come down to 6.37 from 6.77,
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Cross-bat ban?
Three of RCB's first five wickets fell with batters trying to pull. One tried to slash over point and was caught. Now, PBKS have lost their openers to cross-bat shots too.
Hazlewood's height and release point makes him hard to flat-bat, Priyansh goes after him nonetheless and holes out to mid-off. He had top edged a pull earlier in the over which went for six. PBKS: 32 for 2.
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The horror!
The Chinnaswamy really isn't a batter's paradise anymore. Batters can't hit through the line, aerial shots are going off the toe, scoops are being missed. The first four of the innings is an edge off Arya's bat going over slip. Prabhsimran skies a flick next ball but the ball lands safely at square leg...
A bit of normalcy restored though as the opener uses the flat-bat to slap Bhuvi, first over his head and then over extra cover for fours. Third time lucky for Bhuvi though, it's another length ball outside off but the away swing took the ball closer to the toe. David (mid-off) and Patidar (mid-on) were converging towards the skier and there was a moment of worry, but David showed his palm to keep the skipper away and clung on. PBKS 22 for 1.
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David gives RCB slight hope
He whacks two fours off Bartlett over square leg. He nails Harpreet for a hat-trick of sixes to end the innings... And will have one more go, Harpreet's overstepped! The free hit isn't middled, it goes for two, and David reaches a 26-ball fifty. It adds a sense of respectability in what was otherwise a procession of an innings.
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Two in two
A promising 21-run stand between David and Bhuvi, the latter stays leg side of a length ball and tries to slap it over long-off, he holes out. Yash Dayal's beaten on the inside edge first ball, he's given lbw and RCB are out of reviews. Nine down in 11.5 overs. RCB could be bowled out in a 14-over innings.
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Fiftyyy
It didn't seem possible for a little while but RCB get there. Seven wickets were lost in the process, every attacking shot felt like it was an invitation for a wicket, but Tim David pulls Arshdeep behind square for four. Oh, one more, it's a cut behind point. How did this happen?
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49 in threat?
Another batter out pulling, this time Punjab Kings need DRS to get the call. Krunal Pandya charged Marco Jansen and got a short ball, his arms weren't extended but he went through with the shot. Ultra-Edge shows a thin spike before ball popped up off the helmet.
Still early to call but 41 for 6 ain't pretty reading. Old-school Chahal strikes again, loops it on a length and offers room. Patidar tries to flay him inside-out but holes out to long-off. That brings out RCB's impact player: Manoj Bhandage replaces Liam Livingstone. RCB's lowest score is 49 all out, that's not far away.
It's even more probable now as the seventh falls. Jansen beats Bhandage on the pull, pins him on the front pad and the ump gives it lbw. The review shows the ball clipping leg stump.
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Chahal, the aggressor
Two games ago, Punjab Kings couldn't get Yuzvendra Chahal into the game, but now he has a POTM performance and has been brought in early with the opposition three down. He has a slip too.
And he strikes! In fact, he created a near-chance first. Rajat Patidar top edged a pull but the ball fell safely in the outfield at midwicket. Jitesh Sharma is less lucky, he gets inside the line and slog sweeps off a length, the ball carries to deep-backward square. RCB's batters have to try attacking shots given this is a shortened game, but they're not coming off.
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Three down in (four-over) powerplay
Virat Kohli, like Salt, falls on the pull. He walked down the pitch and Arshdeep reacted by digging the ball in short and angling it away, outside off. Kohli went through with the shot only to splice it to Marco Jansen running back from mid-on. Arshdeep had two powerplay wickets at the start of the day, he's doubled that tally.
Liam Livingstone falls on the last ball of the four-over powerplay. He charges Bartlett, has room and tries to slap a length ball over cover, skies it to point. Horizontal-bat shots not working for RCB.
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Seam, six and twos
Xavier Bartlett shares the new ball with Arshdeep and nips one away off a back of length to beat Patidar on the back foot. Fuller side of good length isn't as effective, Patidar picks it up over square leg for six. He then lofts one over mid-on but the ball plugs in the outfield, the batters and fielder think it's four, the running starts late so it's only two.
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Salt shook
Just six games in, Phil Salt is RCB's seasoned starter, he started with a boundary too, but Arshdeep Singh needed just four balls to remove the opener. The left-armer started with full balls, got some swing in too, but pulled his length back to induce a top-edged pull. Josh Inglis runs towards square leg and takes a diving catch.
Sampath has a match-up alert: Phil Salt vs Arshdeep Singh in T20s - Three dismissals in 29 balls for 24 runs
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PBKS will bowl
Punjab Kings chose to bowl vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
After rain kept the players waiting for two hours, Punjab Kings won the toss and unsurprisingly, chose to bowl.
Shreyas Iyer, PBKS' captain, says this being a rain-interrupted game with the overs being reduced was the reason behind his decision. The visitors made one big change: Maxwell, who has had a lean season so far, makes way for Marcus Stoinis. who has scored 41 runs in six games at an average of 8.20 so far this season. Harpreet Brar comes in for the visitors.
Rajat Patidar, RCB's captain, says they have to be smart in adapting to the situation and conditions. When asked what he makes of the conditions, he said, they might be "a bit sticky, but the surface looks pretty hard and put up a good total."
RCB XI: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar (capt), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma
Impact players list: Devdutt Padikkal, Rasikh Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh
PBKS XI: Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer (capt), Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Josh Inglis (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Harpreet Brar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh
Impact players list: Prabhsimran Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Glenn Maxwell, Suryansh Shedge, Pravin Dubey
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Two hours... and we're here!
That's all the wait we needed. The toss will be at 9:30pm, the game will start at 9:45pm. Revised playing conditions awaited. Oh, they're here actually.
- 14 overs per side
- Duration of Innings - 60 min
- 3 Bowler can bowl max 4 overs
- 1 Bowler can bowl max 2 overs
- Strategic Time Out - NA for fielding & NA for batting
- Four overs powerplay
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Inspection at 9:10pm
The rain has stopped, the officials have had a chat, and the groundstaff are running around the covers. The practice pitches are now in the open, cheers among the crowd. Five minutes later, the pitch is nearly uncovered too. Inspection at 9:10pm local. RCB's players have started warming up meanwhile. For PBKS fans, Marcus Stoinis is out there jogging too...
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On-off, drip drop
You know how when the TV or AC doesn't work, you turn it off and then turn it on again in the hope that it starts working again, the rain's doing the same thing at the Chinnaswamy. "Intermittent rain" is what the graphic on the broadcast says. The covers on the square and the practice pitches remain. The people are still waiting but there's no sign of things improving.
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Snip-snip
Rain has eaten into an hour of playing time and that means overs will be lost. The toss will now carry more weight. So will performances from the big hitters, particularly Glenn Maxwell who has shifted from RCB to PBKS and needs to find form.
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Short history
Rain continues, half-hour of game time has been lost. Meanwhile, Sampath, our statistician, is trying to add hope to your wait. These are the games at the Chinnaswamy with shortened first innings. The last of the completed games was a memorable one for RCB fans, Virat Kohli scored a hundred in a 15-over game against Kings XI Punjab (as Punjab Kings were called then) in 2016.
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Zipped-mouth emoji
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Cut-off times
'But if' has pulled its weight. Rain has restarted, the wait continues. From the broadcast: 10.41pm local is the cut-off time for the toss, and it's 10.56pm for the start of play.
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Rain stops... for a bit
The fourth umpire is out on the field, as is the curator among a few others. The umbrelaas are closed. The covers are on but if the weather stays clear, the toss shouldn't be far away.
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Toss delayed
The toss has officially been delayed. No threat of a shortened game just yet, that'll take at least an hour. The drainage at the Chinnaswamy is excellent too, you can read about the makeover it got in 2017 here.
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How will this play out?
PBKS' players and coaches are still on the balcony, chatting about with coffees and laughs. Having said that, we should still get a game, and it might be different from usual. The pitch is Bengaluru is generally flat, but this season it's been slower. So, batters haven't been able to score mountains of runs. The curator had said that high heat and low humidity were reasons for it. It certainly hasn't been hot today, so will this be an old-school run fest? And will the toss decide the game?
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Covered in drizzle
On the 18th anniversary of the IPL, Royal Challengers Bengaluru are back home, which might not be a great sign for them given they've lost their last two games this season at the Chinnaswamy. But they are strongly placed having won all of their games away. Punjab Kings, their opponents, are coming off a dream victory against KKR. They, too, have eight points and are sitting high. So, this promises to be an evenly fought game, but for now, it doesn't look like one that'll start on time. There's been rain around, currently it's just a drizzle, but that's steady enough to keep the covers on and the players inside.
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