So that was, as we suspected at half-time, a bit of a thrashing. In fact no, it was as complete and utter a destruction as you’ll ever see in this format. Gayle was magnificent in the chase, but it was all too easy for him to be. Instead the praise has to go to the RCB bowlers, who rolled over the Daredevils and made this result inevitable.
Thanks for reading. Do join me again next week for more of this. Hang around for a bit though and we’ll have a match report for you. Bye!
Just a quick note:
Join me again in 15 minutes or so to watch Chris Gayle knock the runs off in 10.2 overs.
Me – between the innings.
It took 10.3.
RCB win by 10 wickets
11th over: RCB 99-0 (Gayle 62, Kohli 35) target 96 Surely this will be the final over? Coulter-Nile is back into the attack and Gayle mistimes a slog down the ground. Through they go for a single, then Kohli gets a thick edge to a wild slash and it runs down to third man for four runs, levelling the scores. Down the ground next ball, four runs and that’s that.
10th over: RCB 90-0 (Gayle 61, Kohli 27) target 96 Angelo Mathews hasn’t been pummelled by Gayle today. Now he’ll get his opportunity, being brought into the attack, if you can call it that. Gayle is on strike and pulls straight to Duminy at short mid-wicket, who gets his hands to it, less dropping a catch and more preventing his head from going all Oberyn Martell. They run a single, then Kohli pushes down the ground for another. Seven needed. A couple of dots, then Gayle mistimes a pull away for a single.
Ha! We’re having a strategic time-out. To remind you, RCB need nine runs, from 66 balls, with 10 wickets in hand. The facade is over, BCCI.
9th over: RCB 87-0 (Gayle 59, Kohli 26) target 96 Mishra opens his over with a leg-side wide, then Gayle lifts a magnificent straight six back over his head. Holy hell that’s one of the biggest hits I’ve ever seen. An exchange of singles brings Mishra back in the firing line, then Gayle looks to monster another one down the ground, but only picks out the fielder on the bounce. Mishra drops too short and Kohli flat bats it through mid-wicket and through the dive of Iyer on the sweep for four more.
8th over: RCB 73-0 (Gayle 51, Kohli 21) target 96 In fact it’ll be leggies from both end, as Tahir comes in again. Kohli waits on his first ball and plays it very late, reading the low bounce and cutting with the spin down to third man for four. He smashes the next ball back at Tahir, who puts the chance down, but so would anyone given the pace that one was travelling at. They run a single, then Gayle slog-sweeps over mid-wicket for six more to bring up his 50. He’s nearly out two balls later, the ball striking him on the pad, but it’s pitched outside leg.
7th over: RCB 61-0 (Gayle 44, Kohli 16) target 96 More leg-spin, in the form of Amit Mishra. Kohli backs away to leg and flays Mishra’s full second ball through extra cover for four. Oh and the shot from the next ball is exquisite! Rocking back and easing it through mid-on for four more. He does the same next ball, but this time he’s hit it a fraction straighter and the fielder collects. It wasn’t quite as good, but it was reminiscent of that Kevin Pietersen shot at Headingley in 2012. A single apiece to finish the over.
6th over: RCB 50-0 (Gayle 43, Kohli 6) target 96 With 53 needed, Duminy brings himself into the attack. Kohli takes a single, Duminy tosses up a full-ish one and Gayle whacks it back down the ground for four to long-off. Another full one chipped back past the bowler for a single, then Kohli works a single to mid-wicket to bring up the 50.
5th over: RCB 43-0 (Gayle 38, Kohli 4) target 96 We’re going to get a third over from Coulter-Nile. Kohli hands the strike back to Gayle once more with a single, and the big man plays out four dots before taking his eyes off a bouncer and hooking fortuitously over fine-leg, who is up, for four. That’s more like it from the final ball, carved over extra cover for six.
4th over: RCB 32-0 (Gayle 28, Kohli 3) target 96 Joseph has been sacrificed for Tahir. Good move, bowling to Gayle that, taking the pace off the ball and there are a fair few cracks in the surface. Gayle has a great big mow at his first ball but doesn’t connect with it, which is probably a good thing for the ball’s well-being. He tries again next ball, trying to slog-sweep and doesn’t connect with it anything close to cleanly; yet the ball flies off the bottom edge and square for four. A pair of singles as Kohli is looking to give Gayle all the strike, but then Gayle can only club it down to long-on for another one. Single to mid-wicket ends the over.
3rd over: RCB 24-0 (Gayle 22, Kohli 1) target 96 Virat Kohli gets the strike for the first time and runs Coulter-Nile’s second ball down to third man for a single. Gayle rocks on to the back foot and pushes a drive through extra cover for four. A quick single and Kohli defends the last ball.
2nd over: RCB 18-0 (Gayle 17, Kohli 0) target 96 It’ll be Joseph and his amazing medium pace from the other end. Gayle has a look at the first two, leaving them alone outside off-stump, then hammers a half-volley on off over long-off for six. Joseph pulls his length back and Gayle pulls effortlessly through mid-wicket for four, before missing out on one that keeps very low. The final ball brings a checked straight drive back past the bowler, that whizzes along the deck for four more.
1st over: RCB 4-0 (Gayle 3, Kohli 0) target 96 Gayle and Kohli to open up again for the Challengers, with Coulter-Nile to bowl. His first ball goes past Gayle’s attempted slash through cover. There’s a bit of movement for the bowler and after four dots he sends a bouncer a long way down the leg side. Gayle gets off the mark with a clump through mid-wicket, where Iyer misfields, diving over the ball and allowing a couple of runs. He goes again and gets a thick inside edge down to fine leg for one more.
That was awful. Starc and Aaron bowled magnificently to take out the top of the Delhi batting order, then the tail showed no fight at all. Hell no one showed any fight, any real batting prowess or inclination to even make RCB work. The pitch is quick, but fast bowling isn’t the Daredevils’ strong suit. Expect this to be an annihilation.
End of innings
19th over: Daredevils 95 (Tahir 3) Wiese now looking to wrap this up. In fact AB nicks the glory from him, but no one on the RCB side will give the slightest one. That was ruthless.
Join me again in 15 minutes or so to watch Chris Gayle knock the runs off in 10.2 overs.
Wicket! Joseph run out 2
Dominic Joseph waltzes out of his crease at the non-striker’s end – I don’t think he was even looking for a run there. De Villiers has the ball in his hands at mid-on. You know how this works.
18th over: Daredevils 94-9 (Tahir 2, Joseph 1) Harshal Patel back into the attack, round the wicket to Jadhav. And the last batsman goes with three figures still eight runs off. It’s all down to Tahir and Dominic Joseph to avoid the dual ignominy of being bowled out and not making 100.
Wicket! Jadhav c b H Patel 33
Short, slapped flat to deep mid-wicket and Starc must be practically giggling as he swallows the catch.
17th over: Daredevils 92-8 (Tahir 1, Jadhav 33) The commentators are saying that 140 will be a reasonable score for the Daredevils from here. If they get 140 I imagine they’ll be happier than a man visiting the fireworks candy and puppy dog store, on a date with Nicole Kidman, the day he wins the lottery. Imran Tahir replaces the departed Nadeem and gets off the mark with one to third-man. The tailenders’ technique against Starc has been laughable.
Updated
Wicket! Nadeem b Starc 2
Another yorker, again the batsmen backing obligingly out of the way and again off-stump is out the ground.
16th over: Daredevils 90-7 (Nadeem 2, Jadhav 32) Nadeem comes to the crease, with Abdulla back into the attack. He doesn’t really look like the kind of batsman you’d want to save your innings, so all on Jadhav now. Four singles, plus a wide from the over and Abdulla finishes with 1-17.
15th over: Daredevils 85-7 (Jadhav 30) Kohli is going for the kill, bringing Starc back into the attack. Mishra manages to squeeze him away for a single to get out of the firing range. Jadhav backs away to leg and creams a lovely shot through cover for four; “Flair devils” is the caption that comes up on the big screen for the side that are 80-6. Make that 84-6 as a rank, slow, full-toss outside off is guided behind point for four more. This isn’t quite the comeback from Starc that his captain had in mind. A long hop is hammered away but a brilliant diving stop from – blimey – Chris Gayle at backward point saves three. Starc, who hasn’t got his yorker right in this over so far, nails it with the final ball.
Wicket! Mishra b Starc 2
Mishra backs away to leg, Starc gets his yorker right and the off-stump goes tumbling.
14th over: Daredevils 75-6 (Mishra 1, Jadhav 21) Poor cricket all round as the two batsman can’t make up their minds over whether or not they want a second run, end up at the same end... only for the throw to come in to that end with the run-out begging. Coulter-Nile celebrates by thumping a four through extra-cover, but falls the very next ball. Daredevils in danger of being bowled out here. Mishra clips a yorker off leg-stump to get off the mark. Jadhav miscues the final ball to mid-off, but it just creeps beyond De Villiers and they get a couple.
Wicket! Coulter-Nile LBW b Wiese 4
Plays around a straight, slow one. This is a procession.
13th over: Daredevils 67-5 (Coulter-Nile 0, Jadhav 18) OK batting is easier, but the likes of Bradman, Hobbs, Sutcliffe at all would turn in their graves if I described what Agarwal did there as “batting”. Coulter-Nile comes in at seven, which isn’t something I ever thought I’d write. He plays out five dots to complete a wicket-maiden.
Wicket! Agarwal st Karthik b Abdulla
Agarwal is bored of batting through, anchoring the innings. He goes for a wander in the general direction of the bowler, has a big swipe, loses his shape and misses the ball. Karthik whips the bails off.
12th over: Daredevils 67-4 (Agarwal 27, Jadhav 18) Back comes Wiese. With Aaron bowled out and Starc being understandably held back, batting looks a hell of a lot easier for these two. Although as I write that, Jadhav bottom edges into the ground and it dribbles past off-stump, through to the keeper. Five singles.
11th over: Daredevils 62-4 (Agarwal 24, Jadhav 16) “Hit me baby one more time,” sang Britney Spears in – Christ – 1999. Indeed, Harshal Patel’s first ball may as well do the same, being short and wide and rightly getting cut square for four of the easiest runs Jadhav will get. Four singles from the rest.
10th over: Daredevils 54-4 (Agarwal 22, Jadhav 10) We just had an extended ad break time out. Now, with Abdulla continuing the batsmen take a two, then a pair of ones, before the spinner sends one drifting down the leg-side and Jadhav top-edges a sweep down to the long-leg boundary for four. Nine off the over.
9th over: Daredevils 45-4 (Agarwal 21, Jadhav 2) Aaron is going into his final over. Twice in succession he beats the bat, then Agarwal plays another wild hook with his eyes off the ball, getting it down to fine-leg for one. Agarwal really is nasty to watch. Jadhav punches to extra cover for one more and Aaron finishes with an excellent 2-24.
8th over: Daredevils 43-4 (Agarwal 20, Jadhav 1) Time for spin for the first time today, Iqbal Abdulla on. We’re checking for a run-out as he deflects Jadhav’s straight drive back on to the stumps, but Agarwal was able to get his bat back in time. Three singles from the over.
7th over: Daredevils 40-4 (Agarwal 18, Jadhav 0) It’s just a change of ends for Aaron. That, and the initial decision to pick him, look like excellent decisions as the extra pace does for the $2m+ man. Readers in India: why on earth do you rate Yuvraj so highly? Speaking of players out of form, Angelo Mathews goes first ball. There’s no hat-trick though as the new man Jadhav drops his hands out the way and leaves it alone. There was a single from the first ball of the over before all that, and a wide. Ooh and then another edge as Jadhav has a wild slash at a wide-ish one, but the ball doesn’t quite carry to Karthik.
Updated
Wicket! Mathews c De Villiers b Aaron 0
It’s all going a bit wrong for the home side. Another sharp lifter from Aaron, the ball loops up off the bat as Mathews can’t react in time and De Villiers pouches the easiest of catches at short mid-wicket. Aaron on a hat-trick.
Wicket! Yuvraj c Karthik b Aaron 2
Yuvraj’s poor form continues, but this is a cracking ball. Back of a length it rose sharply outside off and Yuvraj could only fend at it, edging to the keeper as he does so.
6th over: Daredevils 38-2 (Agarwal 17, Yuvraj 2) David Wiese begins his spell with a pretty uninspiring wide. No matter as, after a single to Agarwal, he gets the wicket that heralds the arrival of Yuvraj. He’s off the mark with a thumping aerial drive off the back-foot, through extra cover for two.
Wicket! Duminy c Karthik b Wiese 13
Crikey, that came from nowhere. It was a gentle medium pacer, floated up on a full length outside off-stump, just moving away a touch. Duminy looked to drive through cover and it just brushed the edge through to the keeper.
5th over: Daredevils 34-1 (Agarwal 16, Duminy 13) Change of bowling, Harshal Patel on for Starc. Duminy stands tall and punches nicely off the back foot, but it’s well stopped at cover and kept down to one. Singles from three of the four remaining balls too.
4th over: Daredevils 30-1 (Agarwal 14, Duminy 11) Another hairy single, Agarwal dropping it into the on-side and De Villiers narrowly misses out on removing his international teammate Duminy with a throw from side on to the stumps. There’s a bit of swing for Aaron too, as evidenced by one that slips down the leg side for a wide. He drops shorter next ball and Duminy, looking to hook, feathers a bottom edge just past the keeper for four to long-leg. A single, then Agarwal hooks wildly at a bouncer, taking his eyes off it, but somehow middling it over fine-leg for six.
3rd over: Daredevils 17-1 (Agarwal 7, Duminy 6) Agarwal pushes nervously at a wide half--volley and it loops up, landing just short of mid-off. After a leg-bye, the commentator informs us that Starc’s next ball will be short; it’s a half-volley that’s driven crisply for four through extra cover. Two more clipped through mid-on. After Starc changes his boot, Duminy blocks out the last ball.
2nd over: Daredevils 10-1 (Agarwal 7, Duminy 0) Seam at both ends: Aaron from this one. Agarwal thinks about a run that’s never on and Duminy is in trouble having come a long way down the track. Kohli’s throw misses though. Runs next ball though as Agarwal gets a thick inside edge that sees the ball skating along this fast outfield and through square-leg for four. Four more runs from the rest of the over, two in singles, one leg-bye and one wide.
1st over: Daredevils 2-1 (Agarwal 1, Duminy 0) It’s the opener who hasn’t really impressed me yet, Mayank Agarwal, on strike to begin with and he’s beaten all ends up by the second delivery. It swung back in from a fraction outside off, whizzed past the batsman’s nibble and flew over off-stump. A play and miss next, then Agarwal shovels him down to deep backward point for a single. Shreyas Iyer, the man at the top of the, er, all-important six-hitting table, takes strike and Karthik does well to take a wide that swings down the leg side. Starc adjusts his line a fraction and that’s all it needs to get him man. The captain, JP Duminy is at three. Looking at the replay I think Iyer might have been harshly done by, actually. It might have been swinging down leg.
Wicket! Iyer LBW b Starc 0
This is a beauty of a ball, an inswinging yorker that crunches into the batsman’s boot dead in front.
Here we go. Iyer and Agarwal to open for the Daredevils, as per. Starc the bowler.
That change means that RCB are opting for an extra seamer. Haven’t seen the pitch yet, but Mark Butcher reported earlier that the green tinge is something of a red herring. It’s apparently just covering up a lot of cracks and there’s nothing to spring the ball back up.
And also the teams:
Delhi Daredevils: Agarwal, SS Iyer, JP Duminy*, AD Mathews, Yuvraj Singh, KM Jadhav†, NM Coulter-Nile, A Mishra, S Nadeem, Imran Tahir, DJ Muthuswami
RCB: CH Gayle, V Kohli*, AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, KD Karthik†, SN Khan, D Wiese, HV Patel, MA Starc, Iqbal Abdulla, VR Aaron
Aaron in for Chahal on the RCB side, is the only change.
The toss
Virat Kohli, and by proxy RCB, have won it and will have a bowl.
Incidentally, in rubbish, unfashionable, boring, mediocre, County Championship Division Two, one man and his dog are watching Kumar Sangakkara and Kevin Pietersen bat together at The Oval.
Good news dept.: It’s not raining, thank god.
Preamble
Afternoon/evening, folks. Let’s try that again, shall we? It’s fourth v sixth today, two teams who have hit form only sporadically. That might not be the most invigorating of intros, but it means that the two sides do have a fair bit to play for. Both will be keen to build upon a victory last time out in order to find that most elusive of T20 concepts: consistency.
Delhi have been poor at home and will want to put that behind them. RCB have been decent away and will want to continue that. Delhi have the tournament’s most effective bowler in Imran Tahir, while the Challengers have three of the world’s most feared batsmen.
The key to the match, you feel, is whether or not RCB’s supporting batsmen can finally step up and provide the solidity needed for the big three to do their thing. When Kohli, Gayle and AB have the freedom to bat as they wish then it’s unlikely the side can be stopped. Put them under pressure early on though, and, as we’ve seen, the Challengers are eminently beatable.
Play is due to begin at 3.30pm BST, or 8pm India time. Before the toss and the accompanying team news, here’s a weird thing a friend just sent me for your entertainment. Good? Bad? You decide.
