Highlights, IPL 2019: Another Andre Russell show as KKR beat RCB by 5 wickets in Bengaluru

RCB vs KKR, IPL 2019 Live Cricket, Match 17: 

Hello and welcome to our blog of Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders live from M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. A spectacular batting innings comes to an end. As Brendon McCullum suggested at the Pitch Report, the wicket has turned out to be a belter and the faltering Bangalore batting line-up corrected itself tonight and has posted an excellent score of 205. After Dinesh Karthik won the toss and elected to bowl first, Virat Kohli and Parthiv Patel started off beautifully and looked in full flow. The skipper especially looked in murderous mood as he plundered runs all around the wicket. (Match Scorecard)

Bangalore vs Kolkata from M. Chinnaswamy: KKR beat RCB by five wickets 

* Bangalore has just been shocked here. There are no words to describe the class of Andre Russell.

23.42 IST: Pawan Negi to Shubman Gill, KOLKATA WIN BY 5 WICKETS! The match is calmly finished by Shubman Gill. No heroics. He calmly turns a delivery off his pads towards short fine leg for the winning run. Hard to believe, the visitors have managed to scale the target with 5 balls to go. Brutal batting. Making impossible possible - Andre Russe ll

* 52 runs in the last two overs and Andre Russell has made a complete mockery off Bangalore's bowling. One more needed.

23.41 IST: Tim Southee to Andre Russell, SIX! Is this even real? Another six! Just another day for Russell in the park?

23.39 IST: Tim Southee to Andre Russell, FOUR! What a shot! A bouncer on middle, Russell waits for a bit and then ramps it over the head of the keeper. The ball is not going to be stopped. 7 off 7, Kolkata running away with the game here!

23.37 IST: Tim Southee to Andre Russell, SIX! Another six, this time is it just over the rope at third man. A short ball wide outside off, Russell backs away and cuts it over backward point. The ball flies just over the rope. The crowd has gone silent here!

23.36 IST: Tim Southee to Andre Russell, SIX! Into the stands! The length ball again, this time from the Kiwi! Russell clears his front leg and hits the ball way over deep mid-wicket for a maximum. 23 off 10, Kolkata look the favourites now with the way things are going!

* Tim Southee will bowl the penultimate over of the game. 30 off 12 is the equation!

23.33 IST: Marcus Stoinis to Andre Russell, SIX! Over long off this time! Russell has unleashed. A fuller length ball outside off, the West Indian pounces onto it and hoists it over the fence. Into the crowd. The Aussie under immense pressure.

23.32 IST: Marcus Stoinis to Andre Russell, SIX! Effortless hitting! Stoinis delivers a short ball outside off, gentle pace really, Russell shows his brute power there and spanks it over long on. Is this the momentum shift?

* Marcus Stoinis is called on to bowl now... the ball is also a Free Hit!

23.30 IST: Mohammed Siraj to Andre Russell, SIX. Talk about the power this batsman possesses! A high full toss on off, Russell packs a punch and middles his shot perfectly. Sends it packing over wide long on for a biggie. Called a no ball for high full toss. Wait more drama here. We are hearing that this is the second high full toss (beamer) that Siraj has bowled and has to be taken off.

* Shubman Gill is the new batsman. Mohammed Siraj is back on as well.

23.26 IST: Navdeep Saini to Dinesh Karthik, SIX! 10 runs off the last two balls!

23.25 IST: Navdeep Saini to Dinesh Karthik, SIX! 10 runs off the last two balls! Saini loses the plot and bowls a half-volley on middle at 141 clicks. Karthik gets under it and hits it just over the deep mid-wicket fence. Pressure on the bowler!

23.24 IST: Navdeep Saini to Dinesh Karthik, FOUR.

23.21 IST: Navdeep Saini to Andre Russell, Wide! Bouncer from Saini but it goes too high. The umpire signals it as a wide. It was well over Russell's head.

* Navdeep Saini to bowl out.

23.19 IST: Yuzvendra Chahal to Dinesh Karthik, Bowled flatter and quicker on the pads, Karthik misses his flick and the lobs off the pads to the leg side. A leg bye is stolen. Excellent over from Chahal, 6 runs and a wicket off it at this stage! He ends with amazing figures of 4-0-24-1.

23.18 IST: Yuzvendra Chahal to Dinesh Karthik, NOT OUT! Just over the off stump. What a save! Matter of inches. Cricket at its very best. A quicker delivery, a leg spinner from Chahal, landing on middle and straightening from there. Karthik tries to flick but misses and is hit on the back leg. The bowler appeals and the finger goes up after a bit of a delay.

* Review time... Dinesh Karthik has been adjudged LBW here to Chahal but he has gone up straightaway. If there is no edge there, he looks to be struck in front. Let's see what the replays say!

* Andre Russell walks out to bat next with 67 runs needed off 26 balls...

23.15 IST: Yuzvendra Chahal to Nitish Rana, OUT! Rana departs! Rana departs! The catch is taken in the deep this time. A flighted delivery wide outside off, Rana advances down the track and lofts it over covers. Doesn't get the desired connection though and Klaasen (sub) makes no mistake in the deep.

23.12 IST: Pawan Negi to Nitish Rana, SIX. 101.2 clicks that one from the left-arm tweaker. Rana stays nice and deep in the crease to get under that full one outside off. He lifts it over the long on fielder's head and manages to get a maximum. 72 needed off 30 balls now.

23.11 IST: Pawan Negi to Nitish Rana, FOUR! Exquisite placement! Rana reaches out to this ball outside off and hits it wide to the right of the deep cover fielder. No stopping that. Some pressure off Nitish's shoulders but he will hope for one or two more in this over.

* Pawan Negi is back into the attack. First over of spin from this end.

23.07 IST: Yuzvendra Chahal to Nitish Rana, Third edge in the over off Rana's bat, only difference is that this one came from the inside part. Shortish on off, Nitish miscues his shot and it runs closely past the stumps to fine leg. Six singles from the over, 13 runs in the last three overs, Bangalore have built good pressure here.

23.05 IST: Yuzvendra Chahal to Nitish Rana, Edged but safe! Width on offer outside off, Rana tries to play the square cut but gets an outside edge. It goes on one drop to Moeen at short third man. They cross over for a run.

* Strategic break! The match is poised really delicately at this stage but one would have to say that Pawan Negi has turned this game towards his team. Bangalore do look like they have an upper hand right now but Kolkata, with the fire power they have will not give up. A certain Andre Russell is waiting in the wings but before that, the away side would like these two out in the middle to add as many as possible and as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the hosts would want a few more quick wickets to completely get a hold of the game. Yuzvendra Chahal to bowl after the break!

23.00 IST: Navdeep Saini to Dinesh Karthik, Short of a length on top of off stump, Karthik looks to pull it away. The ball does not have the best timing and runs to deep mid-wicket for a single. The batsmen looked for the second run but it was not possible there. KKR 114/3 in 12.4 Overs

22.57 IST: Navdeep Saini to Dinesh Karthik, Another back of a length delivery on top of off, Karthik drops it towards the off side and gets to the other end

* Navdeep Saini is back into the attack.

22.53 IST: Dinesh Karthik is the next man in

22.52 IST: Pawan Negi to Chris Lynn, OUT! Pawan Negi has single-handedly brought Bangalore on top here and the crowd is roaring in delight! A delivery bowled in the flatter trajectory around middle, Lynn shimmies down the track and tries to play it with a straight bat. But the ball lands and spins away to beat the outside edge and goes on to disturb the stumps behind. 98 needed off 51 balls. This game is heading towards an interesting finish with the firepower that is left to come for Kolkata!

22.49 IST: Marcus Stoinis to Nitish Rana, FIVE RUNS! Ovethrows!

22.47 IST: Marcus Stoinis to Nitish Rana, SIX! Insult to injury for Stoinis. A catch dropped, a good slower ball and then a maximum off this ball. A short length ball on middle, Rana swivels and pulls it deep over the fine leg boundary. Goes into the second tier that one!  

22.45 IST: Marcus Stoinis to Chris Lynn, DROPPED! This is criminal! This is just criminal! A length ball outside off, Lynn cuts it away hard over cover and the fielder is just positioned exactly for the same thing. Siraj runs slightly to his right and gets to the ball but fails to hold on. The skipper cannot believe and has his face hidden in his cap. Could be a huge moment in the game. A single is taken.

22.44 IST: Marcus Stoinis has the ball now for RCB

22.42 IST: Nitish Rana is the next man in.

22.41 IST: Pawan Negi to Robin Uthappa, OUT! Dot balls built pressure and eventually a wicket falls. Top bowling from Negi. A flatter delivery on off, turning away a bit, Uthappa initially looks to chip it over cover but it appears that he checked his shot at the last moment. Continues with his shot and lofts it over mid off. He is disappointed as soon as it left his bat and looks down. A straightforward catch for Southee in the deep. 113 needed off 61 balls.

22.39 IST: Pawan Negi has the ball now

22.38 IST: Mohammed Siraj to Robin Uthappa, FOUR! What a finish to the over. 19 runs off it in the end! Short length ball wide outside off, no pardon for bowling there without a third man in the deep. Uthappa is smart and just lifts the ball over short third man for a boundary.

22.37 IST: Mohammed Siraj to Robin Uthappa, FOUR! No need for a Free Hit if such shots can be played! A length ball outside off, Uthappa stands and punches it wide of mid off for a boundary. No one moved there.

22.34 IST: SIX! GIGANTIC! A full toss above waist height from Siraj! Lynn smashes it over mid-wicket and into the stands. The umpire signals no ball and this is a double bonus for Kolkata.

22.30 IST: Yuzvendra Chahal to Chris Lynn, Fires in a quicker one down the leg side, Lynn nudges it fine down to fine leg for a couple of runs. Moeen does a good job in the deep. 

22.27 IST: Mohammed Siraj to Robin Uthappa, FOUR! Excellent usage of the bowler's pace by the batsman! A ball on the middle and leg stump line, Uthappa glances it really fine and beats fine leg easily. KKR 67/1 in 5.5 Overs

22.26 IST: Mohammed Siraj to Robin Uthappa, FOUR. The slightest bit of room and Uthappa takes advantage! A length ball just outside off, Robin cuts it away past point for a boundary. No chance for third man!

* Strategic break! Time for both sides to get a breather. Kolkata have lost Narine early but they are well in the game. The duo of Robin Uthappa and Chris Lynn have got boundaries at good consistency and their side is rolling at almost 10 runs per over. Virat Kohli and co. will like wickets to keep the run rate under check and to keep pressure on the visitors. Turning out to be quite exciting! Mohammed Siraj to bowl after the break.

22.21 IST: Chahal to Lynn, SIX! Dismissed! Disappeared. He is a powerful striker of the ball. Lynn reads the googly this time and launches it over long on and out of the stadium. Into orbit. Lightning Lynn flashes and giant screen. KKR 59/1 in 5.5 Overs

* Yuzvendra Chahal is into the attack now. A slip in place...

22.18 IST: Tim Southee to Robin Uthappa, FOUR. Excellent shot! A slower ball outside off, Uthappa stands tall and lifts the ball over the head of extra cover. The fielders have only one thing to do there, go and retrieve the ball. KKR 51/1 in 5 Overs

22.16 IST: Tim Southee to Chris Lynn, FOUR! Two in two and now it is Southee who is under pressure! A short length ball on middle, Lynn pulls it away over deep fine leg.

22.15 IST: Tim Southee to Chris Lynn, FOUR! That should ease him up a bit. A really full ball on the pads, Lynn gets the bottom hand into play and manages to put it over the head of mid on. The ball goes for a boundary on a single bounce.

22.13 IST: Navdeep Saini to Robin Uthappa, FOUR! A well-directed short ball from Saini, Uthappa takes his eyes off the ball as he attempts to pull. It takes the top edge of his bat and goes over the keeper for a boundary. KKR 36/1 in 3.5 Overs

22.10 IST: Navdeep Saini to Robin Uthappa, A 148.2 kph delivery, it's on a length around middle and angling down, Robin tries flicking but misses. It rolls on the leg side, Lynn looks for a run but is sent back. KKR 32/1 in 3.3 Overs

22.07 IST: Tim Southee to Robin Uthappa, SAFE! Direct hit! The appeal is take upstairs! Klaasen at cover-point picks up the ball and hits the stumps at the striker's end. Looked like Lynn was just in though to the naked eye. Let's see what replays have to say

22.03 IST: Robin Uthappa is the new man in

22.01 IST: Navdeep Saini to Sunil Narine, OUT! It's a fair delivery. Saini strikes gold and has the last laugh in his battle against Narine. Yet another short ball by the bowler has been pulled across the line by Narine. It goes aerially towards fine leg where Negi comes running across to his right, keeps one eye on the rope and smartly catches the ball. A big breakthrough for Bangalore as Narine is that kind of a batsman who has the license to attack and can take the match very quickly away from the opposition.

22.00 IST: Navdeep Saini to Sunil Narine, FOUR! No stopping this one. Saini continues to pack his deliveries with pace. Seems to not have the slower ones. Delivers a full toss at 149 kph, following the batsman down the leg side, Narine just clips it off his pads and finds the gap at mid-wicket.

21.59 IST: Navdeep Saini to Sunil Narine, NO BALL! FREE HIT!

21.58 IST: Navdeep Saini to Sunil Narine, FOUR! Connects this time and will get a boundary. Saini digs in a short delivery again, at 132 kph, Narine gets inside the bounce and pulls it down to fine leg for a boundary. 2000 T20 runs for Sunil Narine!

21.56 IST: Navdeep Saini to bowl from the other end

21.54 IST: Tim Southee to Chris Lynn, FOUR! After an excellent start to the over, Southee has ended up conceding 17!

21.54 IST: Tim Southee to Chris Lynn, 5 WIDES! Southee goes for a bouncer but goes really short. The ball bounces way over the head of the batsman who was ducking. Parthiv Patel cannot reach the ball either. Those are free runs for Kolkata.

21.53 IST: Tim Southee to Chris Lynn, FOUR! On the hips, turned away by Lynn this time, it is wide of short fine leg. The ball runs away to the fence. That is like adding insult to injury.

21.52 IST: Tim Southee to Chris Lynn, DROPPED! How big will this miss prove to be? A short length ball on off, Lynn looks to pull it over mid-wicket but gets a top edge and the ball flies high in the air. Saini from short fine leg runs to catch that, covers a long distance but fails to hold on at the last moment. Really good effort but such catches win you matches.

21.49 IST: We are back for the chase. The fielders make their way out and into the positions. Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn are the opening batsmen for Kolkata while Tim Southee of Bangalore has the new ball is his hands. Should be an exciting 20 overs of cricket if Kolkata manage to get near this total, let's play!

21.42 IST: Coming to the bowling, the stand-out bowlers were the trio of spinners. Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla and Sunil Narine all went for either 8 runs per over or less and ensured that the total was not even bigger. That said, the ground is a belter and the bowlers have really little margin for error. 206 is the target and it is not really a match-winning total on this wicket and this kind of a ground with small boundaries. The away side certainly have the arsenal to chase this total down and it will be upto the Bangalore bowlers to restrict them by being clinical in their effort. This game promises to be a humdinger though, do not go too far away! The chase to follow ...

21.39 IST: The opening stand was broken with 64 on the board but that only was a brief moment of happiness for the away side. Out walked, the superman AB de Villiers. He joined hands with his captain and the dynamic duo stitched a 108-run partnership in less than 10 overs. Both fell eventually trying to get the maximum during the death overs but they had laid the platform for a big score to be put on the board. Marcus Stoinis played a really good cameo right towards the end to help Bangalore cross the 200-run mark.

21.35 IST: A spectacular batting innings comes to an end. As Brendon McCullum suggested at the Pitch Report, the wicket has turned out to be a belter and the faltering Bangalore batting line-up corrected itself tonight and has posted an excellent score of 205. After Dinesh Karthik won the toss and elected to bowl first, Virat Kohli and Parthiv Patel started off beautifully and looked in full flow. The skipper especially looked in murderous mood as he plundered runs all around the wicket.

21.32 IST: Prasidh Krishna to Marcus Stoinis, FOUR! Make that 18! A fuller ball outside off, Stoinis comes inside the line and scoops it over the head of fine leg for a boundary. This is a great finish for Bangalore! They end with 205/3!

21.30 IST: Prasidh Krishna to Marcus Stoinis, SIX! Four earlier, six now! A slower ball from Krishna now, Stoinis waits for the ball and deposits it way back over the long on rope for a maximum. This is what Bangalore would have wanted. 199 now!

21.30 IST: Prasidh Krishna to Marcus Stoinis, FOUR! Misses the yorker by a couple of inches and ends up conceding a boundary. Prasidh looks for the full ball outside off, but Stoinis takes it on the full and hits it away wide of point for a boundary.

21.28 IST: Prasidh Krishna will bowl the last over

21.27 IST: Moeen Ali is the new man in

21.25 IST: Sunil Narine to AB de Villiers, OUT! AB de Villiers holes out and this will cost Bangalore at least 15-20 runs. Narine has done his job here. A shortish ball around off, AB rocks back to pummel it over wide long off but fails to give it the desired elevation. It goes flatter and Shubman Gill at the edge of the rope makes no mistake. A whirlwind knock comes to an end but it has surely powered Bangalore to a big score. 

21.22 IST: Sunil Narine to ball the penultimate over.

21.19 IST: Kuldeep Yadav to MarcusStoinis, FOUR!  Edged and four! Flighted on off, Stoinis looks to flick it away to deep mid-wicket but gets an outside edge. The ball runs fine on the off side and to the fence. It is a moral victory for the bowler but Bangalore will not mind as long as runs come for them.

21.18 IST: Marcus Stoinis is the new man in

21.17 IST: Kuldeep Yadav to Virat Kohli, OUT! Caught and bowled! Silence envelops the stadium quips Harsha Bhogle on air! A fuller ball on middle, bowled at a good pace. Kohli smashes it back hard but fails to keep it down. Kuldeep reacts really fast and moves to his left and takes the catch with both hands. Kohli has a stunned look on his face. The stand worth 108 off just 56 balls comes to an end. The Bangalore skipper ends with 84 and gets a standing ovation as he walks off.

21.17 IST: Kuldeep Yadav back on for KKR

21.15 IST:  Lockie Ferguson to AB de Villiers, SIX! De Villiers has sent this packing over the fence. A flat hit. Short and on middle, ABD turns inside the crease and hammer-pulls it over square leg.

21.12 IST:  Lockie Ferguson to Virat Kohli, FOUR! Kohli in full throttle! Ferguson pitches it up and outside off, this time Virat opens the face of his bat and lofts it over covers for a boundary.

21.12 IST: Lockie Ferguson to Virat Kohli, SIX! The Kiwi is greeted with a biggie! From 'round the wicket angle, Ferguson angles across a length ball outside off, Virat stays back and powers it over wide long on for a biggie.

21.12 IST: Lockie Ferguson back on for KKR

21.10 IST: Prasidh Krishna to AB de Villiers, FOUR! Back of a length well outside off, de Villiers just slices it away and gets it wide of point. The ball flies with insane pace and no fielder on the ground had a chance of even thinking to stop that. This is brilliant batting! 11 runs off this over.

21.09 IST: Prasidh Krishna to AB de Villiers, FOUR! Just short of the fence! That is also the fifty for ABD! His 30th in the Indian T20 League! A slower bouncer outside off, de Villiers waits for the ball and hits it over cover to get to the landmark.

21.07 IST: Prasidh Krishna baclk on to bowl his second over

21.05 IST: Nitish Rana to AB de Villiers, SIX! Go fetch that! Nitish Rana has been taken to the cleaners. A flatter delivery, on the shorter side outside off, de Villiers keeps his weight on the back foot and hammers it over long off.

21.03 IST: Nitish Rana to Virat Kohli, SIX! This one has gone the distance! Flatter delivery, pitched up to the batsman, Kohli goes down the ground and clears long on with utmost ease.  

21.02 IST: Nitish Rana to Virat Kohli, FOUR! No bowler will be spared now! Both batsmen are set and motoring now. Flatter and fuller ball on middle, Kohli, with his strong bottom hand, whips it through mid-wicket. No chance for the fielder in the deep.

21.01 IST: Andre Russell to  AB de Villiers, SIX! Fuller length outside off, de Villiers gets nice and low before hitting this over long off. The ball goes way back into the stands. End of a 16-run over from Russell!

20.59 IST: Andre Russell to  AB de Villiers, SIX! That is massive! A short length ball on middle, de Villiers stands tall and pulls it way over deep square leg for a maximum. The crowd erupts. That shot also brings up the 50-runs stand between these two.

20.58 IST: Andre Russell has come on for KKR now

20.54 IST: Strategic time-out! Only a period of 4 overs has gone between the last time out and this one but a lot has happened since. AB de Villiers has been given a life and he is looking like he might make the Kolkata bowlers pay for that. Kohli has got to his fifty but faced only a few balls after that. The stage is set for a big total to be posted by Bangalore and it is upto Kolkata to stop them from doing so. What will happen? An exciting 7 overs left in the innings!

20.53 IST: Sunil Narine to AB de Villiers, FOUR! Keep bowling short to this batsman and he will keep putting you to the boundary every single time. Narine ain't learning. Serves a long hop outside off and it's cracked off the back foot by de Villiers. Goes over extra cover and reaches the fence in no time.

20.52 IST: Sunil Narine to AB de Villiers, FOUR! 100 up for Bangalore in the 13th over! What a great shot to reach that mark. A back foot punch over covers by de Villiers and he finds the fence. Narine needs to get his line right here.

20.49 IST: Kuldeep Yadav to AB de Villiers, DROPPED! That could be a huge miss! A flighted ball on middle, de Villiers looks for the slog but top edges it. The ball goes high in the air! Lockie Ferguson from long on runs a lot of distance to catch that but fails to hold on as he puts in a dive.

20.46 IST: Piyush Chawla to Virat Kohli, FOUR! Deft! 35th Indian T20 League fifty for Virat Kohli, his first this season. Chawla delivers it outside off, Kohli uses the width on offer and gently plays it past short third man for a boundary. Well batted, skipper!

20.45 IST: Piyush Chawla to AB de Villiers, FOUR! ABD goes inside-out and finds the fence. Loopy and on off, turning away, the South African legend goes with the spin and effortlessly lofts it over covers.

20.44 IST: Piyush Chawla to bowl his final over

20.42 IST: Kuldeep Yadav to Virat Kohli, FOUR! Bowled down the leg side and punished. Kohli stands tall and swipes it down the leg side. Gets the ball nice and fine. The short fine leg fielder is beaten in his chase.

20.37 IST: Strategic time-out! The hosts have gotten off to a brilliant start but have just slowed the tad bit down in the last 3-4 overs. The ball is holding up slightly for the spinners and the Kolkata tweakers are doing well to hold a tight line. The duo of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers is out in the middle and they'd like to stitch a big partnership for the home side. On the other hand, the visitors would like a few more wickets to fall so that they can really wrest control of this game. Kuldeep Yadav to bowl after the break..

20.35 IST: Piyush Chawla on for his third over

20.34 IST: AB de Villiers is the new man in

20.32 IST: Nitish Rana to Parthiv Patel, OUT! Rana strikes! Parthiv is dismissed. He looked out of touch is this over so far and has finally fallen. Around the wicket and Rana fires it in on off and middle, Patel misses the flick and gets struck right in front of the wickets. The appeal is made and the finger goes up straightaway.

20.30 IST: Nitish Rana to Virat Kohli, DROPPED! Shorter one to start off with, Kohli pulls it away through mid-wicket and it goes straight through Sunil Narine's hands for a couple of runs.

20.29 IST: Karthik is hoping Nitish Rana does the trick again for him against Kohli

20.26 IST:Kuldeep Yadav called upon by Dinesh Karthik

20.24 IST: End of powerplay! RCB have gone off to a flyer against KKR. Kohli and Parthiv have looked at ease and scored at the rate of knots. 

20.18 IST: Piyush Chawla to Parthiv Patel, FOUR! Just cannot bowl that line to any batsman! Full and flighted but down the leg side, Parthiv sits down on one knee and smashes it behind square leg for a boundary.

20.16 IST: Lockie Ferguson to Virat Kohli, FOUR! Shot of the night so far! Maybe in comparison to the first four otherwise! A full-length ball on middle, Kohli brings the straight bat down and drives this past the bowler. There is no chance for the mid on fielder to reach that.

20.15 IST: Lockie Ferguson to Virat Kohli, FOUR!This is on a length outside off, Kohli reaches out and pushes this one wide of point. The ball beats third man to his right and his timing is looking ominous so far tonight.

20.14 IST: Lockie Ferguson to Virat Kohli, FOUR!Those wrists of steel. Wow. Kohli is looking in mood this evening. Ferguson delivers it full and on middle, Virat flicks it over mid-wicket and finds the fence easily. 8000 T20 runs for Kohli, only the second Indian to reach this mark.

20.13 IST: Lockie Ferguson introduced in the attack

20.10 IST: Sunil Narine to Parthiv Patel,  FOUR! Welcome Narine! Flights this ball up outside off, Parthiv goes down on his knee and slogs this over mid-wicket's head. The ball reaches the fence on one bounce.

20.09 IST: Sunil Narine has replaced Prasidh Krishna into the attack

20.07 IST: Piyush Chawla to Parthiv Patel, A mishit! No harm done though. Floated and full on off, Patel top edges his attempted slog sweep over mid-wicket and it falls in no man's land in the deep. A couple taken.

20.05 IST: Piyush Chawla to bowl from the other end. Watch out for his googlies, especially against the Bangalore skipper. First up though, Parthiv is on strike.

20.04 IST: Prasidh Krishna to Virat Kohli, FOUR! Make that two in two! A fuller length ball, even more wider outside off this time. Kohli has no intention of letting the ball go. Wants to make full use of the fielding restrictions knowing this is a great surface to bat on. Plays the exact same shot, finds the gap and the fence again. 13 runs off the first over, Bangalore off to a good start.

20.03 IST: Prasidh Krishna to Virat Kohli, FOUR! PERFECTTT! That is the only way to describe that shot! A half-volley outside off, Kohli gets a little ahead before playing the textbook cover drive. Finds the gap, no one moves there. Sublime way to get off the mark!

20.01 IST: Prasidh Krishna to Parthiv Patel, FOUR!The first runs of the evening and it is a boundary. A short length ball, Prasidh errs in line as the ball is at the hips. Parthiv just has to swivel and pull it over short fine leg, which he does so with ease. The ball goes to the fence on a single bounce.

19.58 IST: We are all set for the first ball. The players and the umpires are out in the middle taking their positions on the field. Dinesh Karthik is seen looking up at the sky momentarily before heading behind the wickets. The opening batsmen for Bangalore are Virat Kohli and Parthiv Patel. The new ball is in the hands of Prasidh Krishna, a Karnataka lad. Time for action!

19.40 IST:What the captain's said:

Dinesh Karthik: "We had a five-day break after a tough game against DC. We will bowl first. Just the one change, Sunil Narine comes back in. Kohli is a class player, I don't want to sledge him as he will even play better than. We want to play in the right spirit of the game, I have always believed in that."

Virat Kohli: "The key is not to be desperate about what we want to achieve. We want to play fearless cricket. I would back my skills and we want to execute our plans in this match. We have made a couple of changes. We want more balance in our bowling so Tim Southee replaces Hetmyer and Pawan Negi comes in place of Umesh Yadav. I want more bowling options when situation becomes difficult."

19.35 IST: Playing XIs:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (C), Parthiv Patel, AB de Villiers, Marcus Stoinis, Moeen Ali, Akshdeep Nath (WK), Pawan Negi, Tim Southee, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj

Kolkata Knight Riders: Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (WK/C), Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna

19.31 IST: TOSS - KKR have won the toss and opted to bowl



19.28 IST: Captain's corner:



19.20 IST: Kohli showcasing his football skills

19.10 IST: PITCH REPORT - It's a flat deck and batsmen will find it a dream to bat on but pacers will find some swing because of the little grass cover on it.

19.00 IST: KKR have some support too at the Chinnaswamy



18.50 IST: Some bonding ahead of the clash





18.44 IST: The crowd is building up at the Chinnaswamy ahead of the mega clash.



Match Preview: On a losing streak in the last four matches, Royal Challengers Bangalore are expected to ring in changes and experiment in search of their first win when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders in an IPL match on Friday.RCB's performance this IPL has been disappointing, both with the bat and ball, and a dejected captain Virat Kohli has conceded that his struggling team is yet to get the right balance but will continue experimenting with its combinations. (Read Full Match Preview Here)