7.50pm Right, then. That's the double-double-header weekend off to a thrilling start. Head (no pun intended) over to today's second game where Abhishek Sharma has raced to a fifty in 15 balls, in just 20 minutes. From the Chinnaswamy, that's all the live action from us. On behalf of Ekanth, Vairavan and everyone else at ESPNcricinfo, it's Abhimanyu signing off.
7.45pm Time for the presentation ceremony.
Tristan Stubbs is the POTM. He's still padded up. Here's what he has to say: "[Coming in at 18 for 3] I wasn't quite ready in the changing room. I just thought of watching the ball and going from there. Came in really early and last two overs of the powerplay I thought I could have a go. KL ended up having most of the strike and played great shots and kept up our momentum. I thought he's going well so I was just giving him the strike. [The pitch] It wasn't spinning or anything but just a little slow and low. Pretty much what I play on back at home. [The finish with Miller] Kept thinking three sixes and we're straight back in it. I always thought the worst case, in the last over we can get whatever we need. But I didn't want to take it into the last over. I knew we were going to do it, I didn't know how. But thankfully Miller was at the other end. It's his bread and butter."
KL Rahul comes out to speak as DC captain, with Axar suffering cramps: "Wicket did a bit early on. I could see Virat and Salt not happy with the way the ball was coming on and we lost three wickets in the powerplay. Overall a good game of cricket. The conversation was to try and keep playing good cricket shots and how we can find the boundaries. We didn't want to go into a shell and the run rate keeps going up. We didn't want to take it too deep and try and put the pressure on the bowlers. There was faith in Stubbs and Miller. They do this on the daily for South Africa and franchise cricket. We also knew the last over would be a gamble for RCB and we knew it would be Shepherd or Suyash bowling so we had a good chance. Ideally we didn't want to take it into the 20th over, but we'll take the win."
David Miller: "Feels really good. After that game the other night, was a disappointing game, but to get it done today feels good. It's always going to be at the back of the mind till you win another game. Mentally just trying to stay in the moment and do what I can. They bowled six yorkers to me and i couldn't really get going but chuffed it came off in the last six overs. [Chat with Stubbs] We wanted to try and finish it in the second-to-last over always, but with as many runs needed, we knew we needed 1-2 sixes. So we just tried to limit the dot balls and take the boundary balls. There were lot of breaks in the game so our minds were a bit all over the place. When I walked out, Stubbo said to me to keep the intensity really hard and that helped. Always good finishing off games with Stubbo and he just said 'thank you so much, you saved me there'. For him being there was massive for us."
Rajat Patidar: "That was really close but I feel that we were 15-20 runs short. The way we started, especially VK bhai and Salt, they gave a good start. Then we started losing wickets and it put us on the back foot. [Did they go too hard at it?] I think the pitch was a bit tacky but I think the way we stretched the game to the last over was a positive sign for us. I was just discussing with the bowler to be clear in what you do. It's a long tournament but we'll go back and introspect on our errors and rectify them."
7.30pm Well, that's an IPL classic! The Chinnaswamy pitch decided to slow down today, and RCB despite their aggressive intent only managed 175. But three wickets in the powerplay from Bhuvneshwar Kumar made RCB favourites again. That was until KL Rahul started to dominate the bowlers - especially Hazlewood - and put DC in the driver's seat. But, Krunal Pandya robbed Rahul the chance of seeing off too successive chases at his home ground. But then Axar played a captain's cameo and DC were still favourites. However, RCB then began to apply a squeeze for the ages. Krunal conceded five off his final over. Bhuvneshwar gave away just four. Hazlewood, taken for runs all around today, also conceded just four. And, Axar hobbled off with cramps. But cue David Miller, who, with DC needing 15 off the final over, clobbered two massive sixes to exorcise the demons from a few games ago.
Seven off three. Pressure right back on Shepherd now
13 off four
Well, RCB are in a dilemma here. Who bowls this one? Will it be Suyash, or will they turn to Romario Shepherd, who hasn't bowled today yet? Romario Shepherd it is!
Ankit: "Can Miller redeem himself?"
END OF OVER:19 | 10 Runs | DC: 161/4 (15 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 8.47, RRR: 15.00)
- David Miller6 (6b)
- Tristan Stubbs59 (46b)
- Rasikh Salam4-0-40-0
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar4-0-26-3
They would want a boundary off this ball to ease the pressure in the final over
Margins are so fine right now!
Nail-biter incoming? 25 needed off the last two overs. Rasikh will bowl this one.
END OF OVER:18 | 12 Runs | DC: 151/4 (25 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 8.38, RRR: 12.50)
- Tristan Stubbs51 (42b)
- David Miller4 (4b)
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar4-0-26-3
- Josh Hazlewood4-0-38-0
As Freddie Mercury and David Bowie would say, Delhi Capitals right now are under pressure
Darshil : "The squeeze is on!"
RCB struggled at the death on this pitch. DC are also now struggling late in the innings. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will bowl out in the 18th over with DC needing 37 off 16
END OF OVER:17 | 4 Runs | DC: 139/4 (37 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 8.17, RRR: 12.33)
- Tristan Stubbs41 (38b)
- David Miller2 (2b)
- Josh Hazlewood4-0-38-0
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar3-0-14-3
