Sunrisers Hyderabad sit at number three of the Indian Premier League points table with 14 points. Royal Challengers Bangalore occupy the number six spot with 13 points. That’s how close is the race for the play-offs now. At the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal, the David Warner’s Orange army would come out all guns firing against Virat Kohli’s red brigade.
Catch all the LIVE updates and LIVE Scores of the match here.
All times in IST
0041: Kohli continues to battle and slams Praveen for a massive six. Bangalore need 13 off the final over.
0039: OUT! Mandeep finds Morgan off Praveen Kumar’s bowling.
0037: Kohli targets Karn but fails five times. He is even dropped by the bowler once. The Bangalore captain finds a six off the final delivery though.
0032: OUT! de Villiers hits it to Steyn at the boundary and has to walk back on a golden duck. Henriques gives just two runs and claims two in his over.
0030: OUT! Gayle pulls but fails to find the right direction. He hits it straight to Dhawan at long-on with Henriques delivering with the ball.
0025: It is sheer carnage here. Gayle is in slap-bang mode – here’s why: Bhuvneshwar’s 1st over of the day: 4,4,0, 6,4 and 6. Bangalore need 40 off 24.
0020: Kohli joins the party and slams a boundary. Bangalore require 64 off 30.
0017: In Dale vs Gayle contest, the batsman emerges on top with a four and six off the first two deliveries.
0015: Kohli and Gayle comes out to chase the target of 81 runs. They need to score in six overs.
0000: Rain forces the play to be on hold once again.
If now only 5 overs are possible then #RCB’s target will be 70 #SRHvsRCB
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) May 15, 2015
2243: Hyderabad post 135/3 in the allotted 11 overs. Warner remains unbeaten on 52.
2241: Morgan just came in but that has hardly stopped him from going after the bowlers. He slams the penultimate ball from Starc into the stands.
2240: It has begun drizzling once again. That can’t be good for this match. Players not leaving though as the final over remains.
2237: Out! Henriques’ knock comes to an end on 57. Wiese claims his second of the innings.
2232: Fifty for Henriques! The batsman’s second IPL fifty comes off just 20 balls.
2230: Warner’s turn to enter 40s. He slams Chahal for the 600th six of the tournament.
2224: Dropped! Henriques is put down once again – this time by Sarfaraz Khan – on 46.
2219: Henriques storms into 40s. He is decimating the Bangalore bowling attack.
2217: Dropped! Mandeep Singh spills a sitter at the long off boundary. Henriques gets a lifeline and he ‘thanks’ Bangalore by caressing the next ball from Harshal to the third man boundary.
2214: Dinda’s second over is ripped apart by Henriques. Hyderabad 68/1 after six.
2213: Henriques has gone from feeding the strike to Warner, to lashing out himself. He has smacked a 99m six and is looking eager for more.
2304: Dinda gets a loud applause from the away spectators. He bowls full and mostly on the outside-off line – concedes just five. Hyderabad 33/1 after four.
2254: Out! Dhawan (8) tries to go over mid on against Wiese but fails to get the elevation. He had hit a similar shot a ball before which went to the boundary but the repeat turns out to be a flop.
2250: Warner bludgeons Harshal down the ground for the first boundary of the game.
2240: The match begins at long last. Warner takes on Starc with Dhawan at the other end. Both are able to put willow to leather. Hyderabad 6/0 after the 1st over. Harshal will bowl the next.
2220: Here are the rules for the curtailed match:
*11 overs per side
* Three overs of powerplay
* One bowler can bowl up to three overs while four others can bowl a maximum of two overs each.
2215: Rain has stopped and the groundstaff are on the field once again. Match will begin at 2240 with each side getting 11 overs.
2145: It is beginning to drizzle once again.
2130:Rain has stopped but it is making a habit of teasing with cricketing emotions.
2115: Umpires are consulting with the ground staff. The stadium has a decent drainage system but incessant rain refuses to stop.
2100: It is quite torrential at the moment. Fans are extremely anxious but overs will have to be cut now if rain abates and there is a match at all.
2050: Rain returns once again and the covers are back on.
2030: Rain halts and the covers come off. Match will begin at 2050. No overs have been reduced so there will be a full T20 match.
1950: It is coming down quite heavily at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. No word yet on when play may begin.
1945:It has begun raining very heavily here now.
1942: Squads –
Hyderabad: Warner, Dhawan, Henriques, Morgan, Ojha, Rahul, Bipul, Karn, Kumar, P Kumar and Steyn
Bangalore: Kohli, Gayle, Mandeep, Karthik, Wiese, de Villiers, Sarfaraz, Chahal, Dinda, Starc and Harshal.
1939: Hyderabad bring back speed demons Dale Steyn and Praveen Kumar. Bangalore captain Kohli says Ashok Dinda will play this match for his side. “We would have liked to bat first as well,” he says. “They are top heavy and would want some early breakthroughs.”
1937: Toss! Hyderabad win and opt to bat first against Bangalore. A sensible decision as a cloudy sky may open up later in the evening. “Bit of rain about but don’t think it would rain anymore,” says captain David Warner. “Would like some runs on the board. I have been telling the middle-order to bat fearlessly.”
Hyderabad have scripted a fantastic turnaround in this edition of the IPL. After their initial struggles, they now have won four out of their last five games. The captain Warner has led from front and is one of the prime contenders for the Orange cap. His partner Shikhar Dhawan has been in rich form too. The middle-order woes have been eradicated by Eoin Morgan’s return to form.
However, the man who has had the biggest impact on Hyderabad performances is Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The medium pacer from India has been in stunning form with the ball and has outdone the likes of Dale Steyn and Trent Boult.
A man who doesn’t quite enjoys Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s bowling is Chris Gayle. The hard-hitting Bangalore opener has had a few duels with the Indian seamer and have come out second in most of them. Tonight, the big man from Jamaica would hope that he pulls one over the slightly-built Indian.
Bangalore has been in red-hot form. Apart from Gayle, Kohli and AB de Villiers have been in superb touch and has done the bulk of the scoring. Although, they slumped to a surprise defeat in their last game against Kings XI Punjab, the Royal Challengers are well placed to throw Hyderabad a big challenge.
This is a game of high stakes – a Hyderabad win almost seals a play-off berth for Warner’s men while a loss will see Kohli’s Bangalore barge in into the top two.
