KKR 94/1 after 10 overs: Iyer finishes it off with a four. The left-hander finished with 41 off just 27 balls. Shots all around the park, off pace and spin. A superb debut for him and an easy win for KKR.

KKR 82/1 after 9.1 overs: WICKET! Gill falls after a fine 48 off 34 balls. A job well done. Couldn’t get to the pitch of the ball, skied it and caught easily by Siraj. Chahal the bowler.

KKR 82/0 after 9 overs: The runs have continued to flow. Puts into perspective how poorly RCB batted or how well KKR bowled.

KKR 75/0 after 8 overs: Another big over for KKR – 13 runs off it. Hasaranga punished... first by Gill and then by Iyer, who reverse hit him for a four off the last ball.

KKR 62/0 after 7 overs: KKR have simply snuffed out RCB’s challenge with this opening stand. Kohli and Co are simply resigned to their fate. Not that they have an option really.

KKR 56/0 after 6 overs: Powerplay overs are done. Kolkata Knight Riders need 37 runs in 84 balls at this point. Miracles happen but doesn’t look like one will happen tonight.

KKR 45/0 after 5 overs: Impressive showing from Iyer so far – a six off the last ball to follow the two fours hit by Gill earlier made it a 16 runs over for KKR.

KKR 29/0 after 4 overs: Hasaranga into the attack and he starts well but Iyer gets a four off the last ball to make it a decent over for KKR.

KKR 22/0 after 3 overs: Just two runs from the Siraj over. Iyer can use the time in the middle to get going for the season. KKR are in no rush here – they don’t need to be.

KKR 20/0 after 2 overs: Just the start KKR would have wanted. Gill slamming a wonderful four – coming down the track to Jamieson. The required rate is just 4.06 now.

KKR 10/0 after 1 over: Iyer making his debut, starts off well. Some loose bowling from Siraj and the left-hander helped himself to two fours.

KKR are all set to begin their chase. RCB need early wickets to stand a chance in this one.

RCB 92 all out after 19 overs: And that is that. RCB don’t even get to 100 and KKR can do this easily... they just need to play the smart game.

RCB 83/9 after 16.3 overs: WICKET! Ferguson with a well-executed slow leg-cutter yorker. Just too good for Harshal Patel (12). The innings is almost over.

RCB 76/8 after 15.3 overs: WICKET! Jamieson is caught out of his crease at the non-strikers end. The ball took Chakravarthy’s hand on the way back onto the stump. The snuffs out RCB’s last hope.

RCB 75/7 after 15 overs: Another good over for Narine and KKR. What can RCB do from here?

RCB 66/7 after 13.4 overs: WICKET! Another wicket. Sachin Baby walking back. Chakravarthy strikes again. RCB look like they are already done.

RCB 66/6 after 13 overs: KKR have been superb and RCB have been the team that we have come to know over the years so far.

RCB 63/6 after 11.5 overs: WICKET! Another gone! Two in two balls from Chakravarthy!! Hasaranga gone for a first-ball duck. Didn’t pick it.

RCB 63/5 after 11.4 overs: WICKET! Maxwell (10) gone too. Chakravarthy goes through the gate and knocks back the leg stump.

RCB 60/4 after 11 overs: Ferguson keeping the pressure on. Just 6 runs from the over. KKR have been very good with the bowling changes today. No rhythm for the batsmen yet.

RCB 54/4 after 10 overs: It has been almost 30 balls since RCB got their last four and that is never good news. Just need to settle down a bit for the next 3-4 overs, as CSK did yesterday.

Stunning over from Andre Russell: W 0 1 W 0 0

RCB 52/4 after 8.4 overs: WICKET! Russelllllllllll! Top yorker to send back AB de Villiers for a first-ball duck! What a ball! It was quick and aimed at the leg stump. Oooof! That is a game changer.

ABD and Maxwell in the middle for RCB now. Make or break!

RCB 51/3 after 8.1 overs: WICKET! Russell strikes. A bit too short and fast for Bharat who can hit it only as far as Gill in the deep. He went for the pull and didn’t connect. RCB in some trouble as the umpire’s call for a strategic timeout.

RCB 51/2 after 8 overs: Good over from Narine. Maxwell looking to bring out the big shots but not finding much success.

RCB 47/2 after 7 overs: Good over from Russell, keeps the pressure on RCB. Some good pace from the big West Indian.

Glenn Maxwell is in next.

RCB 41/2 after 6 overs: WICKET! Ferguson strikes with the last ball of the Powerplay to send back Padikkal (22 off 20). It was too close to play the ramp shot too. Edged it through to the keeper.

RCB 35/1 after 5 overs: Lovely four by Srikar Bharat to end the Narine over. Got to the pitch and used his wrists to lift it over the infield.

RCB 28/1 after 4 overs: Long over but not an expensive one. Padikkal is the key wicket before ABD walks in.

RCB 20/1 after 3 overs: Ferguson from the other end. KKR have got one big wicket and may now want to save Varun for AB de Villiers.

RCB 10/1 after 1.4 overs: WICKET! One ball after a lovely on-the-up shot through the covers, Kohli (5 off 4) is trapped LBW. Kohli reviewed the decision but it didn’t help. Three reds. KKR have their first wicket thanks to Prasidh Krishna.

RCB 4/0 after 1 over: KKR start off with Chakaravarthy and he is on target from ball one. No need to take a risk against him in the first over itself.

A good toss to win? The average score batting first at this venue is 165. And given that it is the first match of the season, RCB will like to get the runs on board. It is very hot and that might have been another reason to bat first.

Royal Challengers Bangalore playing XI: V Kohli, D Padikkal, KS Bharat, G Maxwell, AB de Villiers, S Baby, W Hasaranga, K Jamieson, H Patel, M Siraj, Y Chahal.

Kolkata Knight Riders playing XI: S Gill, V Iyer, N Rana, R Tripathi, E Morgan, D Karthik, S Narine, A Russell, L Ferguson, V Chakaravarthy, P Krishna.

Playing XIs: Some changes for both teams. KS Bharat and Wanindu Hasranga making their debut for RCB. Venkatesh Iyer to make his debut for KKR.

Toss: Kohli wins the toss and RCB will bat first. RCB are dressed in blue today as a tribute to all the frontline workers battling the pandemic.

Hello and welcome to our coverage of the Indian Premier League match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Abu Dhabi.

Kohli’s team are third in the standings with 10 points from seven games while 2012 and 2014 champions KKR are languishing at the seventh spot with just two wins from seven matches.

In a sense, KKR needed the break while Kohli and his team could have done without it. RCB had built some good rhythm and the break means everyone has to start over. So how will it go for the teams?

KKR chief mentor David Hussey believes it will be a whole new ball game but is confident his team can go on a winning run.

“All we have to do is win this,” said Hussey. “We have done it before and so we can do it again… I feel we have the squad to do it also. You qualify for the finals and whole competition starts again.”