8 April 2018, 23:23 PM
Hosts Kolkata cross the line in 18.5 overs to open their IPL 2018 campaign with a convincing four-wicket win against Virat Kohli's Bangalore at Eden Gardens. Whatever little doubts were there, Andre Russell (15 off 11 balls) dissipated them with his power-hitting. After Russell got out, Dinesh Karthik (35 not off 29 balls) ensured there were no more hiccups in their chase and played a captain's knock to see his team home.
8 April 2018, 23:12 PM
Kolkata 141/4 in 15 overs, now need 36 off 30 balls. The 55-run fourth-wicket partnership between Nitish Rana and Dinesh Karthik is the reason behind their present situation. Even though Washinton Sundar trapped Rana for 34 in the 15th over to bring Bangalore back a little, IPL history suggests very few teams lose a match from this position. Karthik is still at the crease and that will give the hosts a lot of confidence.
8 April 2018, 22:43 PM
Since our last update, Bangalore have come back a little into the match. Sunil Narine and Robin Uthappa have been sent back by fast bowler Umesh Yadav who is unleashing some rippers. After the completion of the 10th over, Kolkata are 98/3 with Nitesh Rana (20) and captain Dinesh Karthik (5) at the crease. The hosts now need 78 off 60 balls to win this contest. At this moment, it's anyone's game.
8 April 2018, 22:12 PM
In their chase of Bangalore's 176/7, Kolkata are up and running in a thrilling way, all thanks to Sunil Narine who has hit 50 off 17 balls, and the hosts are nicely placed at 65/1 in 5 overs. Narine looked in great touch right from the word go as he picked up a four and a six off the first two balls of the chase bowled by Yuzvendra Chahal. Chris Lynn was sent back by Chris Woakes in the next over but after that Narine completely went berserk. He took 20 runs off the next Woakes over and then 17 off Washinton Sundar to reach his fifty and put his team in a great position.
8 April 2018, 21:31 PM
Mandeep Singh appears to have taken Bangalore to a good total. He departed for 37 off 18 balls off the penultimate delivery of the last over bowled by Vinay Kumar, but not before taking 6,4 and 6 off the first three deliveries. Off the last ball of the innings, Vinay takes another wicket -- that of Chris Woakes -- and it should make him a little less disappointed. In the previous over, Sarfaraz Khan fell to Mitchell Johnson for 6. Bangalore scored 44 in the last five overs, eventually reaching 176/7 in 20 overs.
8 April 2018, 21:08 PM
AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli were running away when spinner Nitish Rana came in their way. Despite conceding a six off the first ball of his first over - 15th of the innings - he kept his cool and had the South African caught by Mitchell Johnson at deep midwicket off the next. And then he did the unthinkable. He cleaned up Kohli with a yorkish delivery. De Villiers made 44 off 23 balls, while Kohli made 31 off 33 balls. Back-to-back wickets have certainly pegged Bangalore back. Bangalore 132/4 in 15 overs. Can Mandeep and Sarfaraz Khan bail their team out of this situation against hosts Kolkata? Stay tuned. We will know that in a while.
8 April 2018, 20:44 PM
Since our last update, Kolkata have done a better job, conceding 38 runs between five and 10 overs. Things could have been even better if not for AB de Villiers' back-to-back sixes off the bowling of Kuldeep Yadav in the 10th over. We all know what de Villiers is capable of. So, it's imperative Kolkata remove the South African as soon as possible. De Villiers came after the departure of Brendon McCullum for 43 off 27 balls. The Kiwi was bowled by Sunil Narine. After the completion of 10 overs, Bangalore are 82/2 with de Villiers (16 off 6 balls) and Virat Kohli (14 off 23 balls) at the crease. Kohli is a little subdued today but he can hit top gear whenever he wants. Kolkata can't relax as long as these two are there.
8 April 2018, 20:22 PM
It's been a good start for Bangalore after being put into bat by Kolkata captain Dinesh Karthik. They lost Quinton de Kock for 4 early on but after that seasoned player Brendon McCullum took charge of the innings. After the completion of five overs, Bangalore were nicely placed at 44/1. McCullum was unbeaten on 26 off 15 balls with Virat Kohli keeping him company on 9. RCB boast a very strong batting line-up and Kolkata need to check them quickly with more wickets. South Africa great AB de Villiers is yet to come.
8 April 2018, 20:00 PM
In the first match of the day, Punjab convincingly beat Delhi in Mohali. Twin fifties from Punjab were enough to mow down Delhi's modest 166-run target. KL Rahul made the headlines for hitting the fastest fifty in the T20 league, giving Punjab a super start in the process. He made 51 off 16 balls and hit 6 boundaries and 4 sixes. Later, when he departed, his Karnataka teammate Karun Nair took over and finished the job. Punjab eventually won by six wickets with 7 balls to spare.
