IPL 2020 LIVE SCORE, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians: Daniel Sams has been given a lot of responsibility here. He's bowling the penultimate over. Two singles off the first two balls, this isn't tight enough. Delhi need dot balls. And wickets. Two more singles, and a dropped catch from Marcus Stoinis in the next three balls. This has been incredibly entertaining! And Neesham's finished it off with a six! What a win for Kings XI Punjab!
Preview: Fresh from a thrilling Super Over win against defending champions Mumbai Indians on Sunday, Kings XI Punjab will take on table-toppers Delhi Capitals on Tuesday.
KXIP, riding on a fine 51-ball 77 by their in-form skipper KL Rahul, tied Mumbai Indian's tally of 176/6 in 20 overs, necessitating a Super Over to break the deadlock. The Super Over ended in a tie too, which called for another Super Over in which KXIP prevailed.
The close win sums up KXIP's season of near misses - they lost to DC in a Super Over earlier in the tournament, besides losing to KKR in the last over more recently. Despite the roaring form of Rahul and his opening partner Mayank Agarwal, KXIP are in the bottom half of the table thanks to their faltering team combination and a very brittle middle order.
The arrival of Chris Gayle, albeit inexplicably late, has infused some power and reliability in the batting line-up, and while the likes of Nicholas Pooran have flickered, Glenn Maxwell's failures have been a sorry constant for them.
By contrast, Delhi Capitals are the team to beat in IPL 2020. A balanced squad with a sterling pace arsenal, DC have 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 for the entire tournament), but have found players who have stepped up to the challenge.
Shikhar Dhawan has announced his return to form with a fifty followed by his maiden IPL ton in his last two innings, while the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Marcus Stoinis, and Axar Patel have shone in one match or another. Patel, in fact, blasted three sixes in the 20th over of the chase against CSK to win DC a tight game, and has been an unsung hero of sorts for the team.
In the bowling department too, DC, on paper, appear a much stronger and complete side. Kagiso Rabada tops the wicket-takers' list and his battle against Rahul and Agarwal, the top two scorers of the tournament so far, will be one to watch out for. Then, there's the extreme pace of Anrich Nortje and a skillful Tushar Deshpande to deal contend with. Stoinis and Axar are genuine all-rounders and offer a lot of options to skipper Iyer.
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Kings XI Punjab full squad: 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