KKR go top with comfortable win
KKR go top with comfortable win
Easy-peasy at the end. Not quite like bowling an opposition for 49 but eventually KKR chased down 183 with 11 balls and seven wickets to spare. Their sixth victory from eight games takes them to 12 points and they'll leapfrog Mumbai Indians to the top by virtue of the Net Run Rate.
RPS will have to go back to the drawing board. Team selection was off. Replacing an all-rounder with a pure batsman who didn't even bat! Then the dropped catches. Unadkat dropped Uthappa when on 12. The KKR star didn't need another invitation, bludgeoning his way to his highest IPL scored - 87. This was after he effected three stumpings on the field. Gambhir was as elegant as ever in his 62 (now the Orange Cap holder) and the 158-run stand effectively killed the game.
The KKR juggernaut rolls on. That's it from us today. Catch us for another game tomorrow.
Uthappa, Gambhir fall on the cusp of win
Too little, too late for RPS. This magnificent 158-run stand is over and Gambhir follows Uthappa back to the pavilion with KKR needing only 4 more runs for victory. Both of them hole out anticipating the big shot. Chance for Darren Bravo to spend some time in the middle.
Gambhir gets 50; Too easy for KKR
How good has Gambhir been, here? A half-century on his 100th game for KKR. He has played under the shadow of Uthappa's brilliance here. But he's been just as effective, holding his end like a rock. Less than a run-a-ball now. What an innings, what a partnership!
A 26-year-old half-century for Uthappa
Carnage here at the MCA stadium. It was barely some time ago that Uthappa was dropped on 12 off Tahir. Now he's raced off to a 26-ball 50. KKR are absolutely bossing this chase. Four sixes for the Bangalore boy already and RPS feeling the pinch of going a bowler short.
That said, they aren't helping their case with their fielding. Now Washington Sundar has dropped a rather straightforward chance at short-fine off Gambhir.
Uthappa had predicted fireworks in IPL 2017 in an interview with Harsha Bhogle. Now is as good a time as any to revisit it.
Uthappa ups the ante:
The drop chances appears to have flicked a switch on here. Uthappa, since the drop, has gone 1, 4, 6, 6, 1, 6. The fifty partnership is up. Trouble for RPS, who remember, are a bowler short.
So, the MoTM winners from both the teams' previous games will sit this one out.
Warm-up for the clash:
We're still about 10 minutes away from the toss in Pune. But here's something to keep you busy.
Did you know Shakib Al Hasan can cook pretty decently? Well... at least he did some time ago...
"I can fry eggs (laughs). I can make fried rice also. Thing is when I went to play County cricket in England, we were pretty much on our own. That is when I learnt cooking but I am sure I have forgotten all that I mentioned some time back."
Read the fun interview, here:
Build Up:
We're at the exact half-way stage of IPL 2017. The games keep rolling on and on! A fresh KKR - they bowled only 9.4 overs in their last game - take on a resurgent Rising Pune Supergiant at the MCA Stadium. These are two teams looking to catch Mumbai Indians at the top of the table and distance themselves from the chasing pack.
KKR aren't travelling with their full squad for this one. One of the stars of the RCB annihilation - Nathan Coulter-Nile, will not play this one. So expect changes for sure.
Welcome to Match 30, this should be a cracker between two good sides.
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