LIVE SCORE IPL 2020, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians: Daniel Sams has been given a lot of responsibility here. He is pitching the penultimate. Two singles from the first two balls, this is not tight enough. Delhi needs point balls. And windows. Two more singles and a dropped catch by Marcus Stoinis on the next three balls. It has been incredibly entertaining! And Neesham has finished it off with a six! What a victory for Kings XI Punjab!
Advance: Fresh from a thrilling Super Over victory against defending champions Mumbai Indians on Sunday, Kings XI Punjab will take on table leaders Delhi Capitals on Tuesday.
KXIP, riding an excellent 51-ball 77 of his form skipper KL Rahul, tied Mumbai Indian’s score of 176/6 in 20 overs, requiring a Super Over to break the deadlock. The Super Over also ended in a draw, necessitating another Super Over in which KXIP prevailed.
The narrow victory sums up KXIP’s near misses season: They lost to DC in a Super Over early in the tournament, as well as losing to KKR in the last one more recently. Despite the roaring form of Rahul and his opening partner Mayank Agarwal, KXIP is in the lower half of the table thanks to their combination of wavering gear and very fragile middle order.
Chris Gayle’s arrival, albeit inexplicably late, has infused some power and reliability into the hitting lineup, and while Nicholas Pooran’s likes have flickered, Glenn Maxwell’s failures have been a regrettable constant for them.
By contrast, Delhi Capitals are the team to beat at IPL 2020. A balanced team with an arsenal of excellent pace, DC has shown that they do not rely on one or two players to get the job done. They have lost Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra and Rishabh Pant to injuries (Mishra and Sharma throughout the tournament), but they have found players who have accepted the challenge.
Shikhar Dhawan has announced his return to form with a fifty followed by his first IPL ton in his last two innings, while Shreyas Iyer, Marcus Stoinis and Axar Patel have all shined in one match or another. Patel, in fact, pitched three sixes in the twenty-second of the chase against CSK to beat DC in a close game, and he’s been something of an unsung hero for the team.
Also in the bowling department, DC, on paper he seems like a much stronger and more complete side. Kagiso Rabada tops the list of land grabbers and his battle against Rahul and Agarwal, the tournament’s top two scorers so far, will be one to watch out for. Then there’s the extreme pacing of Anrich Nortje and a skilled Tushar Deshpande to deal with. Stoinis and Axar are true off-roaders and offer the Iyer skipper plenty of options.
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Kings XI Punjab Full Team: KL Rahul (Captain), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Sheldon Cottrell, Ishan Porel, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Arshdeep Singh, Hardus Viljoen, M Ashwin, J Suchith, Harpreet Brar, Darshan Nalkande, Glenn Maxwell, James Neesham, Chris Jordan, Krishnappa Gowtham, Deepak Hooda, Tajinder Singh Dhillon, Nicholas Pooran, Prabhsimran Singh.
Delhi Capitals Full Squad: Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Daniel Sams, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Lamichhane, Kagiso Rabada, Keemo Paul, Mohit Sharma, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, R Ashwin , Marcus Stoinis, Anrich Nortje, Rishabh Pant, Alex Carey, Shimron Hetmyer, Tushar Deshpande.
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With PTI inputs
