The Indian Premier League (IPL) clash between Rajasthan and Bangalore--which was reduced to five overs per side because of rain-- has been called off after the downpour resumed yet again at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday.
Here are the highlights:
# The match has been called off due to rain!
# WICKET! Yuzvendra Chahal was brought into the attack and he gave the much-needed breakthrough to Bangalore. Samson looked to hit the second delivery of the fourth over towards extra cover but ended up giving a catch to Negi. Rajasthan 41/1 (3.2 overs)
# 18 runs off the third over, including two sixes and a boundary from Samson (28). Rajasthan now need 23 runs off 12 balls. Rajasthan 40/0 (3 overs)
# 10 runs off the very first over. Samson got off the mark by smashing the second delivery over deep midwicket for six runs, while Livingstone is yet to open his account. Rajasthan 10/0 (1 over)
# Sanju Samson and Liam Livingstone have walked down the crease to begin Rajasthan's chase. Umesh Yadav opens the attack for Bangalore.
# Innings Break!
# Bangalore set 63-run target for Rajasthan in 5-over match! Bangalore 62/7 (5 overs)
# WICKET! Negi edged the third delivery of the final over from Thomas to deep cover for Livingstone to take a good catch. Bangalore 57/6 (4.3 overs)
# Pawan Negi is the new batsman in!
# WICKET! Parthiv Patel was caught by Oshane Thomas at short fine leg off the final delivery of the fourth over from Jaydev Unadkat. The Bangalore batsman departs for eighth runs. # Bangalore 54/5 (4 overs)
# Parthiv Patel comes to bat in!
# WICKET! Riyan Parag was brought into the attack and he delivered by removing Gurkeerat for six. Parag bowled another medium-pace delivery and the Banaglore batsman attempted to clear wide long on but ended up giving a catch to Mahipal Lomror. Bangalore 45/4 (3 overs)
# Heinrich Klaasen and Gurkeerat Singh are currently batting at the crease.
# WICKET! Shreyas Gopal seems to be on a roll today as he completed a hat-trick by removing AB de Villiers (10) and Stoinis (duck) on the next two deliveries. While the South African was caught by Riyan Parag at cover, Stoinis was taken Steve Smith at mid-off. Bangalore 35/3 (2 overs)
# Marcus Stoinis is the new batsman in!
# WICKET! Gopal was brought into the attack to bowl the second over and he gave the breakthrough to Rajasthan by bagging a big wicket of Kohli (25). The Indian skipper tried to once again lift the fourth delivery over long on, only for Liam Livingstone to take the catch. Bangalore 35/1 (1.4 overs)
# Shreyas Gopal to bowl the second over!
# A very expensive over from Aaron as he conceded 23 runs to Bangalore. Skipper Kohli got off the mark by lifting the very first delivery over long off for six runs, while de Villiers opened his account after the fourth delivery took the outside edge of the bat and went to the third-man fence for four runs. Bangalore 23/0 (1 over)
# AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli have walked down the crease to begin Bangalore's innings. Varun Aaron will start the proceedings for Rajasthan.
# The match has been reduced to five overs a side. It is all set to kickstart in a few minutes.
# The umpires will do the next inspection at 11.05 pm.
# The rain has stopped and the covers have come off. The Groundsmen are using heavy blow-dryers to dry the wet patches.
# The rain has returned and the covers are on yet again!
# The covers are being removed except for the main one covering the square.
# Meanwhile, Steve Smith will be playing his 50th T20 match as captain.
# The rain has delayed the start of play.
# Lineups:
Rajasthan: Ajinkya Rahane, Liam Livingstone, Steven Smith (capt), Sanju Samson (wk), Mahipal Lomror, Riyan Parag, Stuart Binny, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas
Bangalore: Parthiv Patel, Virat Kohli (capt), Heinrich Klaasen, Gurkeerat Singh, AB de Villiers, Marcus Stoinis, Pawan Negi, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kulwant Khejroliya, Yuzvendra Chahal
# Rajasthan win the toss, opt to bowl first against Bangalore!
# The toss is all set to take place in a few minutes.
Steve Smith-led Rajasthan will look to keep alive their hopes of making into the playoffs of the ongoing 2019 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) when they square off with Bangalore at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday.
Rajasthan are heading into the match after clinching back-to-back victories against Dinesh Karthik-led Kolkata and Kane Williamson's Hyderabad, respectively. They will now look to continue their winning momentum against Bangalore.
With 10 points from 12 matches they have played so far, seventh-placed Hyderabad still have a theoretical opportunity of making into the playoffs, only if they win both their remaining two clashes.
Besides this, table-toppers Delhi, second-placed Chennai and third-placed Mumbai need to defeat their respective opponents for Rajasthan to make it into the playoffs.
Bangalore, on the other hand, shattered their hopes of entering the playoffs following their 16-run defeat at the hands of Delhi on Sunday. They are languishing down to the last spot in the eight-team standings with four wins from 12 games.
Heading into the match, Kohli's side will look to play for pride and dash Rajasthan's faint playoffs hopes.
The two teams are as follows:
Rajasthan: Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Shubham Ranjane, Ashton Turner, Steve Smith (capt), Stuart Binny, Shreyas Gopal, Sudhesan Midhun, Jaydev Unadkat, Ish Sodhi, Prashant Chopra, Mahipal Lomror, Oshane Thomas, Aryaman Birla, Riyan Parag, Dhawal Kulkarni, Krishnappa Gowtham, Liam Livingstone, Varun Aaron, Shahshank Singh, Manan Vohra, Rahul Tripathi.
Bangalore: Virat Kohli (capt), Parthiv Patel, AB de Villiers, Colin de Grandhomme, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Moeen Ali, Shimron Hetmyer, Dale Steyn, Shivam Dube, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Devdutt Padikkal, Himmat Singh, Milind Kumar, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Heinrich Klaasen, Pawan Negi, Washington Sundar, Akshdeep Nath, Prayas Ray Barman, Kulwant Khejroliya, Tim Southee.
(WIth PTI inputs)
