Starc to du Plessis, 1 run, full outside off, du Plessis bottom-hands the drive wide of mid-off and sets off, takes on Shreyas Iyer's forward flick and makes it, no direct-hit
0.2
Starc to Kohli, 1 run, to deep backward point
0.1
Starc to Kohli, FOUR, thick outside-edge and it runs away, wide of the diving short third man to his right, length and angling away from Kohli who pushes and gets lucky, went to ground quickly, Starc has a wry smile on his face
Kohli and du Plessis are at the crease. Kohli is on strike. Starc will open the attack
All set. Should be an electrifying game.
Sunil Narine becomes the fourth cricketer to play 500 T20 matches after Kieron Pollard (660), Dwayne Bravo (573) and Shoaib Malik (542).
No Nitish Rana for KKR!
Here are the Impact substitutes for both the teams:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Cameron Green, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Anuj Rawat(w), Dinesh Karthik, Alzarri Joseph, Mayank Dagar, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal
Faf du Plessis: The same. It's a fresh wicket, looks a good wicket, you have to see how it plays in the first innings. It's important to close games early in the season. All the great crickets adapt, it's important to assess the conditions.
Shreyas Iyer: We are going to bowl first. HAd a brief chat with the curator, she was like the ball will spin as well. (Morale) It is fantastic, everyone is in high spirits. We have to carry forward the same momentum. It is important to be in the present. My role is to play an anchor role.
Kolkata Knight Riders have won the toss and have opted to field
JUST IN: KKR's Angkrish Raghuvanshi will be making his IPL debut.
There are plenty of mini-battles to look forward to in this mouth-watering contest. Starc vs Kohli & Faf, KKR spinners vs RCB middle-order, Siraj vs Shreyas Iyer, Yash Dayal vs Rinku Singh, Alzarri Joseph vs Russell to name a few....
Alzarri Joseph: It's a pretty good wicket. Always good to get off the mark. Important to stay consistent. (Have to) keep using that hard length with the new ball. I've been enjoying the pre-season games. Was something in it the first game. Hopefully the same today. We know what we have to do (against Rinku and Dre Russ).