Indian Premier League 2016, Match 16, Rising Pune Supergiants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore: As It Happened

Star batman A. B. de Villiers and Virat Kohli smashed quick-fire half centuries followed, which led to about Rising Pune giant in an Indian Premier League (IPL) competition in Pune to a comfortable 13-run victory on Friday Royal Challengers Bangalore by a disciplined bowling effort
Star batsmen AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli smashed quick-fire half centuries followed out the over Rising Pune giant in an Indian Premier League (IPL) competition in Pune on Friday Royal Challengers Bangalore to a comfortable 13-run victory by an disciplined bowling effort , (Scorecard)
Highlights:
Quotes!
Virat Kohli: ... "It was closer than we thought at a certain time well, but to cross the line we have played good cricket We are the only team to win twice after batting first, but I would like the coin toss to win next time. with the power Perera has, you can never relax. on good wickets and with a little dew, these guys can overs take in a couple of the game. It's a lesson for us. Watson showed a lot of composure and showed us the way. It was good to stay calm and not to change too many things. Davey (de Villiers) told me to stay calm. When a man meets well, you need to make your environment and hope that he misses and . meet We talked about 175-180 and get 5 extra at the end. I Such was my eyelash not happy. Later, I accelerated my game. Big partnership with AB again. a world class player. gave me the confidence to play the anchor role and made me feel better, so I could explode at the end. "
Shane Watson: "I was a little bit here and there today evening, but Virat and AB their thing tonight was incredible to do some playing of shots AB at the moment, is stunning I am happy to sit and watch it on .. the moment. we knew if we, we can come home good bowl. It was a little tight at the end, especially when Thisara Perera was going on. I was glad to get him, otherwise the game is its already over might . "
MS Dhoni: "We lost three wickets for nothing Faf got out, then KP was injured and Steven Smith got run out It was a par-plus score with three bats again, I thought it was difficult to reach .... But I am satisfied with the way we came close. Pietersen injury can be a blessing. we are playing with six bowlers, but our death bowling is not great. Maybe we can bring in Albie Morkel or Mitch Marsh look at the next game. with the type of players we have got, it was always difficult to let someone fall. we need to strengthen our bowling line a little. I feel overall with less pressure and a few more games, M Ashwin will get better. Not really with these results fussed. I personally feel we have to improve in all three departments. we have to admit it, a few slow fielder on the team are, but as long as they ensure Fielder and take their catches are, I can not ask for more.
"Pune Innings:

23.44 IST: Kane Richardson took 2 wickets and gave away just 7 runs in the final over of the match. 

23.38 IST: Match Over!! Kane Richardson's bowls a brilliant final over as Royal Challengers Bangalore (185/3) beat Rising Pune Supergiants (172/8) by 13 runs. RPS slump to their third successive defeat in IPL 2016. 

23.32 IST: What an Over!!! Shane Watson's penultimate over might just win the game for RCB, he gets 2 wickets for just 4 runs. Pune 165/6, need 21 runs off the last over to win the match. 

23.29 IST: Big Wicket for RCB!!!! Shane Watson delivers at the right time for Bangalore getting the wicket of Thisara Perera, who departs after a quickfire 34 off 13 balls.  

23.25 IST: SIX!!! Thisara Perera smashes 25 runs off Harshal Patel's over to keep the home team in the hunt. Pune 161/4 after 18 overs, need 25 from 12 balls. 

23.14 IST: That's Out!!! MS Dhoni goes for a big shot but holes out to a superb catch from AB de Villiers at long-off. Pune 121/4 after 16 overs, need 65 from 24 balls.

23.12 IST: Meanwhile, Chris Gayle can't wait to get back to the IPL action 

23.06 IST: STUMPED!!! Required rate pressure gets to Ajinkya Rahane (60 off 46 balls) as he comes down the track looking for a big shot but misses the ball completely and KL Rahul does the rest. Tabraiz Shamsi gets his maiden IPL wicket. Pune 115/3 after 15 overs, need 71 from 30 balls.

22.56 IST: Strategic Time Out!! Pune 94/2 after 13 overs, need another 92 runs from 42 balls at 13.14 runs per over. Rahane 58*, Dhoni 27*. Current partnership: 76 runs from 63 balls.

22.49 IST: FIFTY!!! Ajinkya Rahane gets to his half-century in 37 balls. Pune 86/2 after 12 overs, need 100 runs from 48 balls.

22.41 IST: At the half way stage Pune are 73/2 with another 113 runs to go in 60 balls. Ajinkya Rahane batting on 43 from 31 balls, while Dhoni has made 21 off 22 balls. Required run rate has gone well over 11 now. 

22.32 IST: Supergiants finally bring up their fifty in the eighth over. Pune 53/2 after 8 overs. Required run rate has jumped to 11.08. 

22.22 IST: Strategic Time Out!! Early wickets along with an injury to Kevin Pietersen has completely stemmed the run flow. Pune 36/2 after 6 overs of the powerplay. Required run rate has climbed up to 10.71. 

22.10 IST: MS Dhoni has decided to take control of the situation by promoting himself in the batting order.Pune 23/2 after 4 overs.

22.05 IST: Run Out!!! Virat Kohli adds more misery on Pune as he runs out Steve Smith with a brilliant effort on the field. Pune 18/2 after 2.3 overs. 

22.00 IST: More problems for Pune!! Kevin Pietersen is forced to leave the field after facing just one ball. Seems like he hurt his calf muscle as he was going for a single. Pune 12/1 after 2 overs.

21.56 IST: WICKET!!! Faf du Plessis fails with the bat as he hands an easy catch to Harshal Patel at mid-off. Pune 12/1 after 1.4 overs. 

21.53 IST: Stuart Binny gets smacked in the first over. Pune 11/0 after 1 over. 

21.50 IST: Rahane and Du Plessis are already out in the middle and taking guard. Stuart Binny will open the attack for Bangalore. 

21.36 IST: Virat Kohli: "Well, the pitch was good to begin with. New ball bowlers were getting the swing. They probably didn't hit the right areas. Wickets with new ball will be the key. The old ball was not quite bouncing. So, change of pace and squeezing the batsman for boundaries will be the key. Playing the anchor is how I play my game. Rahul, up the order, and ABD can bat around me. I'm not happy with the way I batted today. I thought I could have used 10 balls lesser. M Ashwin has variations, so we wanted to have the upper hand against him. ABD kept cheering me, he said my role was as important as his. If we bowl smartly, we can defend it." Kohli is also the orange cap holder now.

21.30 IST: Innings break!!! A 155-run stand between Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers powers Bangalore to185/3 in 20 overs. De Villiers top-scored with 83 off 46 balls, while Kohli made 80 from 63 balls. Thisara Perera (3/34) was the pick of the bowlers for Pune. 

21.26 IST: That's Out!!! Thisara Perera provides a double blow as AB de Villiers top-edges a slower ball and gets caught by Ankit Sharma. De Villiers departs for 83 from 46 balls. 

21.25 IST: WICKET!!! Virat Kohli departs after yet another fantastic innings for his side. He scored a quickfire 80 from 63 balls.

21.17 IST: SIX!!! Virat Kohli smacks Thisara Perera for a big six. Bangalore 157/1 after 18 overs. 

21.04 IST: DROPPED!!!! Ankit Sharma puts down an easy catch. Virat Kohli tried to slog sweep R Ashwin but only managed a top-edge which Ankit dropped at long-off. Bangalore 137/1 after 16 overs. 

21.03 IST: This is the third century stand between Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers this season. 

21.00 IST: Fifty for the skipper!!! Virat Kohli brings up yet another half-century this season. Current partnership: 101 off 69 balls. AB de Villiers batting on 68 from 34 balls. Bangalore 128/1 after 15 overs. 

20.57 IST: Murugan Ashwin is having a torrid time on the field as de Villiers is taking him to the cleaners.He has conceded 29 runs in his 2 overs so far. Bangalore 122/1 after 14 overs.

20.51 IST: Hundred up for RCB!! Kohli and de Villiers are going great scoring at more than 8 runs per over.Bangalore 106/1 after 12 overs.

20.43 IST: Fifty Partnership!!! Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers have brought up their third half-century stand in this tournament. Bangalore 79/1 at the half-way stage. 

20.38 IST: SIX!!! AB de Villiers ends the ninth over with slog sweep which goes over the ropes. Bangalore 69/1 after 9 overs.

20.35 IST: Dhoni has brought Ravichandran Ashwin into the attack now. Bangalore 57/1 after 8 overs. 

20.30 IST: Average first innings score at the Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium in Pune is 151 

20.27 IST: At the end of the powerplay, Bangalore are 48/1 after 6 overs. Virat Kohli 27* (3x4, 1x6), AB de Villiers 12* (2x4) 

20.17 IST: WICKET!!! KL Rahul top-edges a delivery from Thisara Perera straight to Ishant Sharma at third man. Bangalore 27/1 after 3.4 overs. 

20.13 IST: Virat smashes Ishant for a six and a four to get his innings off to a quick start. Bangalore 22/0 after 3 overs. 

20.05 IST: Virat and Rahul take 9 runs from the first over. Bangalore 9/0 after 1 over.  

19.58 IST: Virat Kohli and KL Rahul are all set for the big clash. Ishant Sharma starts off the proceedings for Pune.

19.40 IST: Playing XIs

Rising Pune Supergiants: Ajinkya Rahane, Faf du Plessis, Kevin Pietersen, Steven Smith, MS Dhoni, Thisara Perera, Rajat Bhatia, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ankit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Murugan Ashwin

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Lokesh Rahul, Mandeep Singh, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson, Sarfaraz Khan, Stuart Binny, Harshal Patel, Kane Richardson, Iqbal Abdulla, Tabraiz Shamsi 

19.35 IST: Team Changes - Pune have brought back Rajat Bhatia and left out Irfan Pathan. While mystery spinner Tabraiz Shamsi will make his debut for RCB. 

19.30 IST: TOSS!!! MS Dhoni wins the toss, Pune Supergiants will bowl first against Royal Challengers Bangalore. 

19.15 IST: RCB boys leave for the stadium in Pune

Preview:

Rising Pune Supergiants and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will aim to return to winning ways when they meet in an Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Friday. (Full IPL Coverage)

Both teams started off in promising fashion by winning their respective opening matches, but lost their way thereafter with back to back defeats. A win on Friday will be crucial in getting their campaign back on track.

Both teams are on one point each after identical records of one win and two defeats. But Pune are at the fifth spot on the points table, a rung above Bangalore, due to a better run rate.

Pune are struggling to get going in both batting and bowling departments. They have star-studded batting line-up which includes the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Kevin Pietersen, Steven Smith and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. But with the exception of Faf du Plesis, none of the big names have lived up to their reputation so far.

The Pune bowlers have not done too well either. The pace bowling department saw a couple of changes in their last match against Kings XI Punjab with Thissara Perera and Irfan Pathan replacing Mitchell Marsh and R.P. Singh. But the changes did not bring about the desired results as they could defend a 150 plus total.

Ishant Sharma has also been largely ineffective despite his considerable international experience. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has also not been in his best form so far. However, rookie spinner Murugan Ashwin and experienced pacer Rajat Bhatia have been promising.

RCB also have an explosive batting line-up. They will miss star opener Chris Gayle, who has flown back home to Jamiaca following the birth of his first child. But the likes of captain Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Shane Watson have the ability to tear apart any bowling attack on their day. The young Sarfaraz Khan has also been promising.

The bowling however, is a cause for worry. Pacers Varun Aaron, Kane Richardson, Adam Milne and David Wiese have been far too expensive and have also struggled to get wickets. The spinners have fared no better with Yuzvendra Chahal, Parvez Rasool and Iqbal Abdullah struggling due their lack of experience.

The squads:

Rising Pune Supergiants: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Kevin Pietersen, Faf du Plessis, Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Jaskaran Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ankit Sharma, Albie Morkel, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Ishwar Pandey, Thisara Perera, Saurabh Tiwary, R.P. Singh, Rajat Bhatia, Ankush Bains, Baba Aparajith, Murugan Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, Deepak Chahar, Scott Boland, Peter Handscomb, Adam Zampa.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (captain), Shane Watson, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Stuart Binny, Iqbal Abdulla, Sreenath Aravind, Kedar Jadhav, Vikramjeet Malik, Kane Richardson, Varun Aaron, Mandeep Singh, Abu Nechim, Adam Milne, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harshal Patel, Travis Head, David Wiese, Sachin Baby, Lokesh Rahul, Parvez Rasool, Vikas Tokas, Sarfaraz Khan, Praveen Dubey, Akshay Karnewar.