IPL 10, Match 30, RPS v KKR Review: Gambhir and Uthappa help Kolkata Knight Riders script an easy chase

After 3 consecutive wins in this season of IPL, Rising Pune Supergiant were in the hunt for the fourth win at home. But the woes at the home ground continued as Kolkata Knight Riders halted their winning run. It turned out to be a night that belonged to Robin Uthappa who scored a brilliant 87 that gave his side their sixth win of the season and they moved to the pole position on the points table.

Earlier, the visitors won the toss and asked RPS to bat first. The openers Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Tripathi were off to a quickfire start and especially Rahul went after the bowling from the outset. Both the right-handers looked in fine touch and took the team to 57 at the end of the powerplay. Umesh Yadav, Chris Woakes and Sunil Narine bowled 2 overs apiece but failed to bag any wickets.

Rahul was the first one to go when he was castled by Piyush Chawla in the 8th over. He scored 38 off 23 with 7 fours and added 65 runs for the first wicket with Rahane. After the fall of the wicket, Rahane stepped up a gear and hit some delightful shots. He was accompanied by the skipper Steven Smith and the duo added 47 runs for the second wicket.

Rahane was inching closer to his half-century but was removed by Narine in the 14th over courtesy a smart glove-work by Uthappa behind the wicket. He departed after scoring 46 off 41 balls that included 4 fours and a six. The wicket brought MS Dhoni to the crease with a huge round of applause from the Pune crowd.

In the next over, he struck a four and a massive six off Piyush Chawla off consecutive deliveries that got the crowd going. He sent one more out of the park in the next over off Kuldeep Yadav but the bowler made a stunning comeback and got Dhoni out stumped off a superb googly. The wicket-keeper batsman went back after scoring 23 off just 11 in the 18th over.

Manoj Tiwary walked in at number 5 but he didn’t trouble the scorers a lot as Uthappa inflicted his third stumping of the innings. Kuldeep ended his magnificent spell with figures of 31/2 in 4 overs. Smith who was watching all the action from the other end, came to the fore during the slog overs. He found support from Daniel Christian who smacked two sixes in the penultimate over from Woakes.

The captain of RPS brought up his fifty in the last over and finished unbeaten at 51 off 37 balls. Christian played a cameo of 16 off just 6 balls that enabled the side to reach 182/5 at the end of 20 overs. It was a great effort as almost all the batsmen contributed to the total and they had a good score on the board for the bowlers to defend.

In reply, KKR went once more with the opening combination of Gautam Gambhir and Sunil Narine. Just like the previous matches, Narine was on the attack straight away and slammed 3 boundaries inside 2 overs. The chase was up and running and Narine seemed like taking the game away from RPS but a brilliance from Dhoni got Narine run out for 16 off 11 balls.

Robin Uthappa, who has been in a terrific form this season was in at number 3. He got going with a stylish boundary off Shardul Thakur in the 4th over. He along with Gambhir took the score to 45/1 at the end of 6 overs. The chase was on the right path with the two most experienced batsmen in the side at the crease looking good.

The turning point of the match arrived when Uthappa mistimed a lofted shot off Tahir that lobbed up towards the mid-wicket boundary. Jaydev Unadkat made a mess of it and ended up dropping the catch and banged his head on the ground awkwardly and the ball trickled past the boundary line.

The batsman was in no mood to let that opportunity go and made the fielding side pay for the lapse. He brought up his fifty off just 26 balls in the 11th over. The score was well past 100 as the partnership kept flourishing. Gambhir played the perfect foil for Uthappa who kept hitting the big strokes. They reached their 100 run partnership in the 12th over and made it easy for KKR to enforce a win.

Gambhir too reached the score of fifty in the 14th over and made his 100th game for KKR a memorable one. Uthappa, on the other end, kept tonking fours and sixes and was in a hurry to finish the match. He got out in the 17th over in an attempt to finish the chase with a glory stroke and held out at long-off but not before scoring 87 off 47 balls with 7 fours and 6 sixes.

Within touching distance, Gambhir also made his way back to the pavilion after making 62 off 46 balls with 6 fours and a six. Darren Bravo, who was playing his first game this season, completed the formality with a drive through covers as KKR went past the line with 7 wickets and 11 balls to spare. The victory meant that KKR were once again at the top of the points table displacing Mumbai Indians.

Brief Scores:

Rising Pune Supergiant: 182/5 in 20 overs (Steven Smith 51, Ajinkya Rahane 46; Kuldeep Yadav 2/31)

Kolkata Knight Riders: 184/3 in 18.1 overs (Robin Uthappa 87, Gautam Gambhir 62; Jaydev Unadkat 1/26)

Check out – Full scorecard here

Check out – Full points table here