IPL 2020 Live Updates: Punjab register clinical victory, defeat Bangalore by 97 runs

KL Rahul-led Punjab have registered a clinical victory as they defeated Bangalore by 97 runs.

Ashwin gets his second wicket as he bowls Navdeep Saini. Punjab need one more wicket for complete victory

Ravi Bishnoi has bagged his third wicket of the night as he dismissed Washington Sundar. Bangalore are 101/8

Glenn Maxwell might have failed to shine with the bat but has struck with the ball as he dismissed Shivam Dube. Bangalore are 83/6

Bishnoi produced a dream delivery to dismiss Australian skipper Aaron Finch, watch the ripper here

After Bishnoi, Ashwin deceived de Villiers with his googly to dismiss the South African batsman. Bangalore are 57/5 at the end of 8.2 overs

After being hit for 15 runs in the first over, Ravi Bishnoi came back stronger to dismisses Aaron Finch just as Bangalore looked to get going. Bangalore are 53/4

With some early wickets, Bangalore looked to mount pressure on Punjab as they attack youngster Ravi Bishnoi. Finch & ABD smashed him for 15 runs as the powerplay ends. Bangalore are 40/3

Despite losing early wickets, de Villiers continues to strike hard as he hit Cottrell for two boundaries in an over. Bangalore are 25/3 at the end of 5 overs

Shami almost got his second wicket of the night as umpire signaled Finch to be out caught behind, however, a smart review by the Australian saved him. Bangalore are 11/3 at the end of 4 overs

Three wickets off three overs for Punjab. Sheldon Cottrell has dismissed skipper Virat Kohli for just a run as Bangalore get off to a terrible start. 

Bangalore have lost their second wicket in the very second over as Mohammad Shammi dismissed Joshua Phillipe for a duck. 

Sheldon Cottrell brings out his salute up early as he dismisses young gun Devdutt Padikkal for just a single run in the very first over.

Sheldon Cottrell to start proceedings for Punjab. Padikkal & Finch on crease 

Twitter broke into praise for skipper KL Rahul as he smashed a brilliant century notching up the highest score by an Indian in the IPL. Here's how netizens reacted: 

"We thought we'd get a target of 160-170, but the wicket is good for batting so I think we can chase the total. I've been varying my pace, watching the batsman's feet, and working on the googlies, particularly the quicker and the slower googlies. I've worked quite hard in the 21 days we've had here. The dew has already set in and I think they will struggle to grip it. We can chase this down," said Yuzvendra Chahal during the innings break

Just after smashing 100, the skipper has unleashed havoc upon Bangalore as he smacked Dale Steyn for two consecutive maximums and a four

Skipper KL Rahul has led his side past 200 as Punjab set a mammoth target of 207 for Bangalore to chase.

Skipper KL Rahul has led Punjab from the front as he smashed a wonderful and the first century of the IPL 2020, Punjab are 167/3

For the second time in the two consecutive overs, KL Rahul approaching 100 survived, as skipper Kohli dropped him both the times

Just as KL Rahul nears a century, Bangalore missed a golden opportunity as skipper Kohli dropped the Punjab opener off Dale Steyn

Power-hitter Glenn Maxwell has departed after scoring just 5 runs as Dube picks his second wicket of the night. Skipper KL rahul continues to hold one end strong. Punjab are 128/3 as Karun Nair walks in. 

Bangalore's ace bowler Yuzvendra Chahal has ended his quota of four overs. The leggie managed to pick a significant scalp of Mayank Agarwal and gave away only 25 runs. Punjab are 126/2

Twitter ran a meme riot as Bangalore pacer Umesh Yadav struggled to get going yet again and leaked runs against Punjab. 
Here are a few of those reactions: 

With Glenn Maxwell coming to bat, Kohli has introduced Chahal to face his arch nemesis

Shivam Dube bagged a wicket off his very first delivery as Nicholas Pooran attempted to go big but a mistimed shot had the ball fall straight into ABD's hands

Skipper KL Rahul continues to anchor the Punjab innings as he brings up his half-century against Bangalore 

11 overs gone, Punjab are 95/1 as Pooran & Rahul continue to keep the scoreboard running. 

Punjab skipper surpassed batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar as he became the fastest Indian player to reach 2000 IPL runs

Skipper Rahul smacked Umesh Yadav for a massive maximum on the free-hit of a no-ball on the previous delivery. 

After a wicket in his very first over, Yuzi has slowed down Punjab's scoring rate. The lions are 70/1 at the end of 9 overs. 

Bangalore's spin maestro Chahal bagged the first wicket as he broke the Rahul - Agarwal partnership. The leg-spinner bowled in-form Mayank Agarwal with a brilliant wrong-un

Bangalore has introduced their trump card - Yuzvendra Chahal into the attack as they remain in search of a wicket

As the powerplay ends, Punjab have remained without loss of any wicket. Kl Rahul has been leading from the front as he continues his partnership with Agarwal. Punjab are 50/0

Bangalore in desperate search of a wicket as KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal get going. The duo have stiched 39 runs off 4.3 overs.

Punjab continue to spot gaps and holes as they find occasional boundaries. KL Rahul & Co. are 26/0 at the end of 3 overs.

Skippers of both teams have donned the black arm band as a mark of respect to Australian Dean Jones as he passed away earlier today. 

Read the full story here

Umesh Yadav seems to have found his rhythm after having a poor outing against Hyderabad. Punjab are 8 for no loss

Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul take the crease, Umesh Yadav has the new ball

"The body is feeling good. It’s a plus that you don’t have to get on the plane the next day. Nice to get the first one out of the way. Haven’t played competitive cricket for a while now. Nobody has. Looking to get better as the tournament progresses. I think the nice thing about playing how long as I have is that I know how I can operate. I can work on slower balls and yorkers. Anytime you’re playing on a new surface, there will be something different. The batters will want to take some time to get set. I must say that the first game I saw the guys bowl (in Dubai), I was pretty excited," said speedster Dale Steyn just before the match

• Bangalore (Playing XI): Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers, Shivam Dube, Josh Philippe(w), Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Umesh Yadav, Dale Steyn, Yuzvendra Chahal
• Punjab (Playing XI): Lokesh Rahul(w/c), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Sarfaraz Khan, James Neesham, Mohammed Shami, Murugan Ashwin, Sheldon Cottrell, Ravi Bishnoi

"There were a lot of positives and it was the first game. Mayank's batting and our team's fight was heartening. Jordan and Gowtham aren't playing, Murugan Ashwin and Neesham come in. Chris Gayle will come in at the right time, don't worry about it. It was tough sitting at home and so we are grateful to get this oppotunity to play. The guys are enjoying themselves despite the rustiness in the first game," said KL Rahul at the toss. 

"It's a fresh wicket. Bit of dew in the second half and when the ball gets wet it's hard to execute. That's been a big factor. We have done really well defending a total less than 170 and seeing the bowlers execute their plans so well," said Virat Kohli after winning the toss. 

The skipper has decided to field the same team as against Hyderabad. 

Virat Kohli has won the toss and chosen to bowl first. Punjab will bat first.

The last game at this venue saw a first-innings score of 157. The best way to score quick runs on this pitch is to target the new ball as the pitch will tend to slow down as the game progresses. According to Punjab vs Bangalore pitch report, dew will play an important role in the second innings as it has played in the Dream11 IPL 2020 matches till now. The team winning the toss will look to follow the trend and field first as it will get slightly better to bat in the second innings. Both sides are heavily dependent on their batting, however, Mohammad Shami and Dale Steyn will also look to make their mark in the match.

When both the sides met last, skipper Virat Kohli was in top form as he played a wonderful innings of 67 runs. Will he be able to repeat it again? Kohli had failed to score big against Hyderabad in the season opener earlier.

Bangalore's ace batsman AB de Villiers needs just 54 runs to reach 4500 IPL runs. On the other hand, Steyn Gun needs to fire thrice to nail his 100th wicket of the IPL. 

The clash at Dubai will be even more interesting as Chahal will face his Australian nemesis, Glenn Maxwell. The duo have faced each other several times before with Chahal having the last laugh on three previous occasions. 

Both teams are equally matched when it comes to the overall head-to-head encounters as the former finalists have won 12 games apiece in the 24 matches that they have played so far. 

Punjab skipper KL Rahul had got off to a good start against Delhi on Sunday but he could not capitalize on it. He will now be hoping to prove a point or two this time around. His opening partner Mayank Agarwal would be looking to make his bat do the talking once again. At the same time, it remains to be seen whether the 'Universe Boss' Chris Gayle gets a game or not. Mohammed Shami will be expected to make an impact with the new ball in hand as he had done in the last game. Glenn Maxwell will be eager to rediscover their rhythm. Meanwhile, if Jimmy Neesham does get a game, he would be expected to do some damage in the middle & death overs as well as with the ball in hand. 

Bangalore would be hoping from their skipper Virat Kohli to come out and fire all cylinders. He could only manage to score 14 in the last game. All eyes would be on youngster Devdutt Padikkal who had scored a splendid match-winning half-century against Hyderabad the other day. Even opener Aaron Finch will look to get back into the groove. Mr.360 AB de Villiers looks in good touch and will be all geared up to take the Punjab bowlers to the cleaners with his wide range of cricketing shots. 

Coming back to Bangalore's bowling department, even though veteran pacer Umesh Yadav is leaking runs from one end, youngster Navdeep Saini is making a tremendous impact from the other end. When it comes to spin, star wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal would be expected to come out all guns blazing and bamboozle Punjab's star-studded batsmen.

Punjab will be looking to add the first two points in their tally when they face Bangalore in the sixth match of the Dream11 IPL 2020 that will be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli & Co. will be pumped up after having overcome their southern rivals Hyderabad in their season opener on Monday night.

The KL Rahul-led side had to bear the brunt due to some poor umpiring decisions. A short-run was signaled during their run chase but the replays showed that Nicholas Pooran had grounded the bat inside his crease and had also completed the run. It indeed turned out to be a huge blunder as the game ended in a tie and Punjab tasted a bitter defeat in the Super Over that followed. However, the 2014 finalists would be hoping to overcome that moment and star afresh against a side who has made a statement right away. On the other hand, it was also the first time that Bangalore had started their campaign with a win under their belt after the 2016 edition.