Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Capitals, 56th Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Hello and welcome to the live blog of the IPL 2021 match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals. Before we get going with the build up for the game, here's Bharath Ramaraj's preview -

Less than 48 hours after SRH put a spanner in the works of Virat Kohli's side by sealing a thriller, RCB will take on Delhi Capitals in Dubai. RCB would have hoped to finish in the top two in the league phase in order to find an escape route from the Eliminator. However, the loss against SRH proved to be costly and even if they win by a massive margin versus DC, there is a very, very slim chance of usurping CSK from the second position.

Despite RCB's chances of finishing in the top two effectively going up in smoke, they have a lot of positives to take from the tournament so far including match-ups and tactics. For instance, in the match against SRH, Shahbaz Ahmad's left-arm spin was used early on in the innings against Jason Roy, with the opener having a slice of luck or two. With the pitch offering some grip, Dan Christian and Harshal Patel shortened their lengths and employed cutters, alongside the occasional loppy, slower one. Meanwhile, Glenn Maxwell continued to show exemplary judgement against the spinners and played with fluency on a track where every other batter more or less struggled for timing.

For all the progress RCB have made, there is still a bit of polishing to be done. AB de Villiers, one of the lynchpins of RCB's batting unit, has aggregated just 69 runs in the UAE leg of the IPL. Moreover, in the end overs, one of De Villiers' key strengths is to get underneath the deliveries and crack the big shots. Unfortunately for RCB, in the game against SRH, he couldn't showcase his slog overs skills. In his defence, it has to be observed that Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave a good account of his slog overs smarts by keeping it away from De Villiers' zone and also forced him to clear the longer part of the boundary. The RCB think-tank could still look at moving De Villiers up the order, especially considering the point that filling the number 3 slot has been a bit of a headache.

Meanwhile, the DC camp would be pepped up after overcoming the other frontrunner of the tournament so far - CSK. The plus point for DC is any of the five bowlers - Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Avesh Khan, R Ashwin and Axar Patel - can carry the asterisk of being the spearhead. In the match versus CSK, Nortje and Avesh ended up bowling a few extras, but the spin duo covered up for it by sharing three wickets and gave away only 38 runs. As and when Marcus Stoinis returns to full fitness, it just adds balance to the side. If there is one minor worry, it could be the lack of striking ability lower down the order. Even though Shimron Hetmyer has tried to keep the lower-middle order afloat with his power-packed shots.