KKR 139/6 after 19.4 overs: KKR win this! RCB fought hard but Kohli’s reign as RCB skipper ends without a trophy. KKR win by 4 wickets. Narine the star... with ball and bat. KKR have now won 6 out of 8 at UAE. Superb win.

KKR 136/6 after 19.1 overs: Four off the first ball of the final over. Shakib with a lovely chip over short fine leg. Brilliant.

KKR 132/6 after 19 overs: RCB have made a fight of this but KKR had this. And now they aren’t quite sure. Kolkata Knight Riders need 7 runs in 6 balls.

KKR 127/6 after 18 overs: 12 off 12 balls. Comes down to nerves.

KKR 126/6 after 17.3 overs: WICKET! Karthik caught behind now off Siraj. Do we have another twist in the tale? Kolkata Knight Riders need 13 runs in 14 balls. Karthik c Srikar Bharat b Siraj 10(12)

KKR 125/5 after 17.2 overs: WICKET! Siraj with a beauty to knock back Narine’s off-stump. But the left-hander has done his job. Those three sixes... ooooof! Narine b Siraj 26(15)

KKR 124/4 after 17 overs: Five runs off the Patel over. He is done. Chahal is done. RCB won’t have their best bowlers at the death. What a season for him... and his slower ball though. 22 of his 32 wickets have come off the slower ball. Kolkata Knight Riders need 15 runs in 18 balls.

KKR 119/4 after 16 overs: A four off the first ball of the Maxwell over made it just the kind of over that KKR needed. Lovely shot by Karthik. Narine playing a fine innings. Kolkata Knight Riders need 19 runs in 24 balls.

KKR 112/4 after 15 overs: Kolkata Knight Riders need 27 runs in 30 balls. Time for a strategic timeout. KKR seem to be panicking a little. Trying to do a bit too much when all they need are singles and the odd four.

KKR 110/4 after 14.2 overs: WICKET! Rana with some mindless cricket gives RCB some hope. Didn’t need to go for the big shot... did it... got nowhere close to the pitch of the ball and was caught in the deep. Nitish Rana c de Villiers b Chahal 23(25)

KKR 110/3 after 14 overs: Just three off the Patel over but KKR in control now. They need 29 runs in 36 balls.

KKR 107/3 after 13 overs: Kolkata Knight Riders need 32 runs in 42 balls. Narine’s burst has made it easy for KKR. But why has Kohli not used Shahbaz here?

KKR 101/3 after 12 overs: Narine’s match. Sixes off the first three balls he faced! RCB didn’t have a single six in their innings. 22 runs off the Christian over. Kolkata Knight Riders need 38 runs in 48 balls.

Narine has been sent up the order. A few quick runs if he can get them.

KKR 79/3 after 11 overs: WICKET! Harshal Patel has taken his 32nd wicket of the season. Iyer went for the hook shot, gloved it to the keeper. He has now equalled Bravo’s all-time mark of 32. Venkatesh Iyer c Srikar Bharat b Harshal Patel 26(30)

KKR 74/2 after 10 overs: Shahbaz dropped an easy chance to give Iyer a life. Maxwell wasn’t pleased at all. On either side of the drop, Nitish Rana helped himself to a six and a four to make it a 13-run over for KKR. To win, Kolkata Knight Riders need 65 runs in 60 balls.

KKR 61/2 after 9 overs: Another four run over. Good stuff from Chahal.

KKR 57/2 after 8 overs: Spin from both ends and here comes the slowdown. Just four runs from the Maxwell over.

KKR 53/2 after 7 overs: WICKET! Chahal into the attack and he traps Tripathi LBW. Third time today umpire Virender Sharma had to change his decision. RCB got their review right. Tripathi lbw b Chahal 6(5)

RCB were 53/1 at the end of their Powerplay. KKR are 48/1.

KKR 48/1 after 6 overs: Tripathi gets a four off the last ball of Patel’s over. This has been a steady Powerplay for KKR – they haven’t done much wrong upto this point. But things will get tougher now. The advantage KKR have is that they know what they need to do from this point on.

KKR 41/1 after 5.2 overs: WICKET! Harshal Patel into the attack and he strikes right away. His slower ball induces the false shot from Gill, who has played a good hand for his team. Shubman Gill c de Villiers b Harshal Patel 29(18)

KKR 40/0 after 5 overs: Another very good over by Siraj – who has been very accurate today. 3 overs, 16 runs for the pacer.

KKR 34/0 after 4 overs: Fours off the first three balls by Gill made it a very good over for KKR. Garton was put off by the straight drive off the first ball, dropped the second one short and was pulled away and then an inside edge for four.

KKR 19/0 after 3 overs: Brilliant over by Siraj – just 3 runs off it. Gill and Iyer struggling with the pace of the wicket.

KKR 16/0 after 2 overs: And we have our first six of the evening. Iyer hit that over the boundary line to make it a nine-run over for KKR. Garton the bowler.

KKR 7/0 after 1 over: Gill gets things going with a wonderfully timed push on the leg-side. Siraj got his line wrong but just 7 runs off the first over.

Gill and Iyer are in the middle and ready for a big Powerplay. This will set the tone for the chase.

RCB 138/7 after 20 overs: 12 runs off the last over from Mavi and RCB have what looks like a competitive total on a not very easy pitch. But as they say... don’t judge a pitch before both sides have bowled on it. KKR’s spinners were all in superb form today and that made a huge difference.

RCB 134/7 after 19.4 overs: WICKET! Misfield and then a run out. Christian wanted a second which was never there. Ferguson’s throw was spot on. Christian run out (Ferguson/Shivam Mavi) 9(8)

RCB 126/6 after 19 overs: WICKET! Low full toss from Ferguson and Shahbaz doesn’t get the distance on his hit. Caught in the deep. RCB still looking for that one big over. Shahbaz Ahmed c Shivam Mavi b Ferguson 13(14)

RCB 119/5 after 18 overs: 130? Is that what RCB should be aiming for. It feels like the bare minimum they need.

An outstanding spell by Narine – 4-0-21-4. He could have had another wicket too. Just brilliant. Very accurate and bringing all his variations into play. What a time to come to the party!

RCB 112/5 after 16.4 overs: WICKET! Maxwell was getting desperate, he wasn’t reading Narine and he went for the big shot... got the top edge and it was taken by Ferguson at short third man. Big wicket. The in-form batter is gone. Narine’s 4th wicket! Maxwell c Ferguson b Narine 15(18)

RCB 111/4 after 16 overs: Last 5 overs, just 32 runs and 2 wickets. KKR are in control but the variable here is Maxwell... can he snag a couple of big over for RCB?

RCB 108/4 after 15 overs: Maxwell edged one through the keeper and first slip and no one picked it or Narine might have had another wicket there.

RCB 102/4 after 14.2 overs: WICKET! Narine strikes to send back ABD. He goes straight through his defence. Did the same to Kohli. Did the same to Narine. Superb bowling. Big, big wicket. de Villiers b Narine 11(9)

RCB 100/3 after 14 overs: Another solid over by Varun. Tough to get the timing right on this wicket.

RCB 94/3 after 13 overs: Maxwell and ABD in the middle. Two batters who can take the pitch out of the equation. RCB will hope they do exactly that today.

After 6 overs in the innings, Kohli’s SR was 150.00. At the end of the innings: SR 118.18. This has happened far too often this season.

RCB 88/3 after 12.2 overs: WICKET! A swing and a miss. Brilliant by Narine and Kohli’s struggle ends. He made 39 off 33 balls. Started well but then slowed down in the face of some good bowling by KKR it must be said. Kohli b Narine 39(33)

RCB 87/2 after 12 overs: Four off the last ball for Kohli – he needed this, RCB needed this too. He had been trying for a while and it finally came off. Ferguson was a bit too full and Kohli got the bottomhand involved.

RCB 79/2 after 11 overs: Maxwell in the middle and he makes an immediate impact with a reverse hit for four. RCB need more of this – from Kohli too.

RCB 69/2 after 9.4 overs: WICKET! The lack of quick runs got to him. Bharat caught in the deep. Fooled by the carrom ball. Narine strikes. Srikar Bharat c Venkatesh Iyer b Narine 9(16)

RCB 66/1 after 9 overs: 17 runs in the last 4 overs, KKR are starting to pull this back. Shakib with another very good over – just 4 runs off it.

RCB 62/1 after 8 overs: Another missed opportunity. Karthik failed to pick which way the ball was going to turn, missed an easy stumping, Bharat survived. Will these missed chances come back to haunt KKR? Superb over by Chakaravarthy.

RCB 57/1 after 7 overs: Kohli survived a mix-up in the middle. A direct hit would have meant he was gone. But he is still there in the middle. Just four singles in the Shakib over.

RCB 53/1 after 6 overs: Powerplay overs are done. RCB have done well but the wicket towards the end will lift KKR’s morale a bit. And now, the spinners will take over too.

RCB 49/1 after 5.1 overs: WICKET! Ferguson strikes. Padikkal edges that back onto the stumps after making 21 off 18. KKR needed this... they needed this badly. Padikkal b Ferguson 21(18).

RCB 49/0 after 5 overs: RCB are cruising. KKR’s pacers are proving enough boundary balls. Mavi has gone for 19 off his 2 overs and Ferguson conceded 12 runs off his only over. Poor bowling.

RCB 36/0 after 4 overs: 12 runs off the Ferguson over. A four off the first ball and then another later in the over – poor deliveries both. RCB are off to a great start without having taken too many risks.

RCB 24/0 after 3 overs: Singles and twos were the order of the day in the Chakaravarthy. No last-ball four this time. But poor by KKR in the circle as Kohli and Padikkal were able to steal singles.

RCB 17/0 after 2 overs: Five balls for one runs. Then a four off the no-ball and a four off the free-hit. Bowling a no-ball is criminal in the IPL – Mavi had done such a good job up to that point. Kohli is away, he has 13 runs off 8 balls.

RCB 7/0 after 1 over: KKR start off with Shakib Al Hasan and he bowled five very good balls. But then the last one was just a little short and Kohli got down on his knees and swept it away for four.

Kohli and Padikkal are in the middle now and RCB will hope they can take full advantage of the Powerplay overs.

Vinayakk Mohanarangan: “Interesting call by Virat Kohli and RCB, saying he expects the batting to get harder while chasing. Out of eight matches in Sharjah in this leg, five have been won by chasing sides. But KKR did win by some distance batting first in the previous match at the venue.”

The Maxwell factor: KKR’s two mystery spinners have been in brilliant form in Phase II and RCB will hope that in Glenn Maxwell, they have the answer to the pressing problem. The Australian is having his best season in a long time and is doing everything his team would have hoped for.

IPL 2021 stats for Maxwell

Batting and Fielding Mat Runs Ave SR
Career 97 2003 25.35 152.78
2021 15 498 45.27 147.33
2020 13 108 15.42 101.88
2018 12 169 14.08 140.83
2017 14 310 31.00 173.18
2016 11 179 19.88 144.35
2015 11 145 13.18 129.46

Squads: No changes for both teams. No Dre Russ for KKR.

Royal Challengers Bangalore XI: V Kohli, D Padikkal, KS Bharat, AB de Villiers, G Maxwell, S Ahmed, D Christian, G Garton, H Patel, M Siraj, Y Chahal

Kolkata Knight Riders XI: S Gill, V Iyer, N Rana, R Tripathi, E Morgan, D Karthik, S Al Hasan, S Narine, L Ferguson, V Chakaravarthy, S Mavi

Toss: Kohli has won the toss and RCB will bat first. He feels chasing has been difficult at Sharjah and the wicket seems hard and good for now.

Toss tactics: In Sharjah, the team batting first has just won one match in Phase 2 of IPL 2021. Five matches have been won by the team batting second and that should be the way to go today as well. Or given that this is a KO match, will the teams prefer to set a target first?

06.45 pm: Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the Eliminator between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders. Virat Kohli’s RCB are hoping to end a long wait, Eoin Morgan’s KKR are looking to regain the trophy after a recent lull. The venue is Sharjah. Pitch permitting, this has potential to be a cracking contest.

Did you know? This is the two teams’ first ever meeting in the playoff stages of IPL.

RCB vs KKR preview here.