IPL 2020, DC v RCB as it happened: Delhi, Bangalore seal playoff spots as Iyer & Co win by 6 wickets

11.00 pm – Ajinkya Rahane: “We bowled really well. Enjoyed batting with Shikhar. We spoke about batting with intent and weren’t focusing on the target. Wanted to finish the game, was really disappointed, but it’s great to qualify.”

10.57 pm – RCB captain Virat Kohli: “Mixed bag of emotions. Top-two finish would’ve been nice but we’re just happy we’ve qualified. I think we deserve it. I’m sure the guys will be very excited for what lies ahead.”

DELHI CAPITALS WIN BY 6 WICKETS!
Shreyas Iyer and Co will now face Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 1! RCB have booked their place in the playoffs too but a dominating win for Delhi tonight.

After 18 overs, DC are 138/4 (Pant 3, Stoinis 1)
Marcus Stoinis has joined Rishabh Pant at the crease. Washington Sundar finishes with figures of 1/24 in his four overs. DC need 15 off 12.

After 17.2 overs, DC are 136/4 – Rahane is gone!
OUT! Oh dear, Ajinkya Rahane attempts a reverse-sweep but gets a top-edge to short-third. The right-hander departs for a brilliant 60 off 46.

Big update: Delhi Capitals have officially qualified for the playoffs!

After 16.2 overs, DC are 130/3 – Iyer is gone!
OUT! An unnecessary slog from DC skipper Shreyas Iyer and the ball goes straight to long-on. Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed gets his second wicket. Iyer departs for 7 off 9 as Rishabh Pant joins Ajinkya Rahane at the crease.

After 16 overs, DC are 128/2 (Rahane 55, Iyer 7)
Yuzvendra Chahal finishes with figures of 0/29 in his four overs. Time for a strategic timeout. DC need 25 off 24.

After 15 overs, DC are 121/2 (Rahane 50, Iyer 5)
FIFTY FOR AJINKYA RAHANE! The right-hander has taken 37 balls to get to his half-century. A mature knock studded with glorious strokes.

After 14 overs, DC are 115/2 (Rahane 46, Iyer 3)
Six runs come from Yuzvendra Chahal’s third over. RCB have been pegged back by an injury to Chris Morris. The South African right-arm pacer is sitting in the dugout.

Note: If DC are at 152 in 17.2 and instead of hitting a single, they hit a four or six, then 17.3 overs is not enough for RCB to qualify tonight.

After 12.4 overs, DC are 107/2 – Dhawan is gone!
OUT! Soft dismissal for Shikhar Dhawan as he walks back for 54 off 41. The scoop goes straight to short-fine as Shahbaz Ahmed picks up the wicket. The left-hander has done a fine job, though. #DelhiCapitals are cruising towards a win.

After 12 overs, DC are 99/1 (Dhawan 53, Rahane 35)
FIFTY FOR SHIKHAR DHAWAN! The left-hander gets to his half-century in 37 balls. Big game for DC and the senior pro steps up. Expensive over from Udana, 13 from it. Both Dhawan and Rahane pick up a four each. DC need 54 off 48.

After 11 overs, DC are 86/1 (Dhawan 45, Rahane 30)
Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed joins the attack and does well to concede just five runs in his first over. DC need 67 off 54.

After 10 overs, DC are 81/1 (Dhawan 41, Rahane 29)
A couple of fumbles by the RCB fielders and DC pick up eight runs without taking any risk in that Sundar over.

After 9 overs, DC are 73/1 (Dhawan 35, Rahane 27)
Shot! Chahal tosses it up and Dhawan sweeps it away for four. That came from the meat of the bat. The left-hander has gone past 500 runs from the season.

What a ball this was from Mohammed Siraj to dismiss Prithvi Shaw:

After 8 overs, DC are 66/1 (Dhawan 30, Rahane 25)
Washington Sundar keeps things tight and concedes four runs in his second over. DC need 87 off 72.

After 7 overs, DC are 62/1 (Dhawan 27, Rahane 24)
Chahal joins the attack and concedes nine runs in his first over. A superbly placed sweep by Rahane for four.

After 6 overs, DC are 53/1 (Dhawan 25, Rahane 17)
Two fours for Rahane! The right-hander punches one past cover before hitting one past mid-off. Classy shots. Time for a strategic timeout. The DC innings is moving along nicely.

After 5 overs, DC are 42/1 (Dhawan 23, Rahane 8)
Washington Sundar joins the attack and Ajinkya Rahane picks up his first four with a sweep. DC need 111 off 90.

After 4 overs, DC are 34/1 (Dhawan 21, Rahane 2)
Shot! Siraj pitches it up and Dhawan hits a gorgeous straight drive for four. Six runs come from that over.

After 3 overs, DC are 28/1 (Dhawan 16, Rahane 2)
Dhawan cuts hard and the ball flies past short-third for four. Nine runs come from Morris’ second over.

Note: Per our calculations, it looks like if DC are restricted to 133 in the run-chase, their NRR will be the same as KKR, counted till 3 decimal points! The NRR tiebreaker is wickets per fair balls bowled in the tournament, which doesn’t favour KKR anyway as per Cricbuzz.

After 1.5 overs, DC are 19/1 – Shaw is gone!
OUT! Prithvi Shaw hits a couple of attractive fours but is clean bowled! That was a wonderful delivery from Mohammed Siraj, squared Shaw up. Ajinkya Rahane joins Shikhar Dhawan at the crease.

After 1 over, DC are 11/0 (Dhawan 10, Shaw 1)
Two fours in the first over from Morris from Dhawan and that is always a good sign. The left-hander is a moody batsman and today, he looks like he is in the mood. Still early days though.

Dhawan and Shaw walking out to open the innings for Delhi Capitals. If Shaw gets going, it will give DC a huge boost given the rate he tends to score at.

NRR scenarios:
DC need to score at least 134 runs to qualify, should they lose.
RCB need to bowl at least 17.3 overs to qualify, should they lose.

RCB FINISH WITH 152/7
Anrich Nortje returns with figures of 3/33. DC have done well with the ball in Abu Dhabi. They’ll be confident of chasing down this total.

After 19.4 overs, RCB are 150/7 – Udana is gone!
Isuru Udana gets a four but finds the fielder off the next ball. Anrich Nortje gets his third wicket. DC are not letting RCB get away.

After 19.2 overs, RCB are 146/6 – ABD is gone!
OUT! Big, big moment in the match as AB de Villiers is run-out for 35 off 21.. He tries to steal a second to regain strike but falls well short.

After 19 overs, RCB are 145/5 – Dube is gone!
OUT! Shivam Dube goes for a big one but finds the fielder at deep mid-wicket. Kagiso Rabada gets his second wicket. Dube departs for 17 off 11 as Rabada finishes with figures of 2/30. Final six balls of the RCB innings coming up. ABD is on strike!

After 18 overs, RCB are 134/4 (ABD 27, Dube 13)
Six and four! Daniel Sams drops them short and Shivam Dube pulls them hard. The left-arm pacer finishes with figures of 0/40 in his four overs. RCB would want to go past 160 at least.

After 17 overs, RCB are 117/4 (ABD 22, Dube 1)
Brilliant over from Rabada, just five from it. RCB need ABD to bat till the end, and face almost all of the remaining 18 balls. DC are well on top right now.

After 16 overs, RCB are 112/4 – Morris is gone!
OUT! Two wickets in the over for Anrich Nortje! Chris Morris is gone for a duck! A lot depends on AB de Villiers now if RCB are to get a respectable total. Shivam Dube is the new man at the crease.

After 15.4 overs, RCB are 112/2 – Padikkal is gone!
OUT! Devdutt Padikkal attempts a slog and is clean bowled. The left-hander departs for 50 off 41 as Anrich Nortje gets his first wicket. Meanwhile, R Ashwin has gone off the field with an ‘internal injury’. Not sure what the details are but the off-spinner has changed into his shorts and doesn’t seem likely to return.

After 15 overs, RCB are 103/2 (Padikkal 50, ABD 9)
FIFTY FOR DEVDUTT PADIKKAL! The left-hander continues to impress as he gets a half-century off 40 balls. RCB need him to stay till the end and up the ante. Daniel Sams returns to the attack and concedes 13 runs in his third over. Time for a strategic timeout.

After 14 overs, RCB are 90/2 (Padikkal 43, ABD 5)
Axar Patel finishes with figures of 0/30 in his four overs. AB de Villiers will once again have to provide a big finish for RCB. Delhi have done well to not leak runs. Interesting phase coming up!

After 12.3 overs, RCB are 82/2 – Kohli is gone!
OUT! R Ashwin gets the big wicket of Virat Kohli! The RCB skipper mistimes it again and this time it’s Marcus Stoinis who gets under the ball and makes no mistake. Anrich Nortje will be the happiest man on the field. Wonderful bowling from Ashwin!

After 12 overs, RCB are 81/1 (Padikkal 39, Kohli 29)
SIX! First maximum of the match (in the 12th over!) and it comes from Kohli’s bat. That was a super shot. Axar tossed it up and the right-hander stepped out to whack it straight back. RCB are upping the ante. They have to.

After 11 overs, RCB are 68/1 (Padikkal 35, Kohli 20)
Kohli rubs salt into DC’s wounds by thumping one over cover for four. Eight runs come from Rabada’s second over.

After 10 overs, RCB are 60/1 (Padikkal 33, Kohli 14)
DROPPED! Oh dear, Anrich Nortje has dropped Virat Kohli. The right-hander tried to up the ante by going up and over, but the ball went straight to long-on. That’s a massive let-off for RCB. DC are doing well to keep the run-rate in check. Four runs come from that Axar over.

After 9 overs, RCB are 56/1 (Padikkal 31, Kohli 12)
Good over from Ashwin, just four singles from it. Are RCB being too safe here? Time for a strategic timeout.

After 8 overs, RCB are 52/1 (Padikkal 29, Kohli 10)
Left-arm spinner Axar Patel joins the attack and RCB pick him for six singles. Kohli and Co haven’t had a flying start but they can lay the foundation for a big finish.

After 7 overs, RCB are 46/1 (Padikkal 26, Kohli 7)
Ashwin returns to the attack and Padikkal cuts him for four to pick up his fourth boundary. The left-hander is timing the ball wonderfully.

After 6 overs, RCB are 40/1 (Padikkal 21, Kohli 6)
Good over for Bangalore as Kohli and Padikkal hit a four each. Nortje has been expensive so far.

After 5 overs, RCB are 31/1 (Padikkal 17, Kohli 1)
Another four over the in-field on the off side for Devdutt Padikkal. Skipper Virat Kohli is the new man at the crease. RCB need the big man to step up.

After 4.1 overs, RCB are 25/1 – Philippe is gone
OUT! Kagiso Rabada strikes with his very first ball! Josh Philippe mistimes it and Prithvi Shaw runs behind from cover and takes a comfortable catch. This is a good start for DC!

After 4 overs, RCB are 25/0 (Philippe 12, Padikkal 12)
Shot! Anrich Nortje joins the attack and pitches it slightly wide, Devdutt Padikkal takes his front leg forward and drives it over cover for four. Such an elegant batsman he is. Kagiso Rabada then does outstandingly well to save a boundary.

After 3 overs, RCB are 16/0 (Philippe 10, Padikkal 5)
RCB get their first boundary as Philippe pulls one through mid-wicket and mid-on for four. But a good comeback by Sams, he concedes just six runs in his second over.

After 2 overs, RCB are 10/0 (Philippe 5, Padikkal 5)
Another good over for DC, just six runs from it. Ravichandran Ashwin takes the new ball from the other end and mixes it up well. This is a cautious start by RCB.

After 1 over, RCB are 4/0 (Philippe 3, Padikkal 1)
Impressive first over by Daniel Sams. The left-arm pacer doesn’t provide any room to the RCB openers and concedes just four runs in his first over. A hint of swing there.

7.30 pm: It’s time! DC are set to battle with RCB in Abu Dhabi for a spot in Qualifier 1. Devdutt Padikkal and Josh Philippe are opening the batting for Bangalore. Daniel Sams has the new ball for Delhi. Which team is going to take this? Here we go!

7.09 pm: Playing XIs
DC: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant (w), Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Sams, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje.
RCB: Josh Philippe, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (w), Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Shahbaz Ahmed, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal.

7.06 pm: Three changes for DC: Rahane, Axar and Sams come in for Hetmyer, Dubey and Harshal. Two changes for RCB: Dube and Shahbaz Ahmed come in for Gurkeerat and Saini.

7.02 pm: TOSS – Shreyas Iyer has won the toss and Delhi Capitals will BOWL first! DC are yet to win a game in Abu Dhabi this season.

6.48 pm: IPL 2020: Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and the importance of peaking at the right time

06.40 pm: Hello all and welcome to the live coverage of match No 55 in the Indian Premier League.

It’s the penultimate group stage match of the season and we still do not know the identity of three out of four teams that will take part in the playoffs!

Tonight, however, we are guaranteed to know which team faces Mumbai Indians in the Qualifier 1 as the winner of Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore will finish second in the table. The team that comes out second best tonight could still get eliminated.

Here’s what the points table looks like: