Having recovered from their patchy displays early in the season, Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) find themselves in the reckoning for an IPL 2017 play-off spot, and will look to take a big step towards the same when they lock horns with second-placed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. (LIVE SCORE | WHERE TO GET LIVE STREAMING | STANDINGS)
21:39 hrs IST: And that’s it. KKR finish on 155/8. Brilliant bowling performance from RPS. Shouldn’t be a difficult target for them. We’ll be back in a few minutes time.
21:36 hrs IST: WICKET! First of the night for Stokes. Gets rid of Coulter-Nile 6(5).
21:34 hrs IST: Stokes to bowl the final six balls.
21:33 hrs IST: Costly over from Unadkat. 21 runs off it. He ends with figures of 2/28. KKR are 151/7 after 19 overs.
21:30 hrs IST: SIX! Slower delivery from Unadkat and Suryakumar sweeps it over deep fine-leg boundary.
21:29 hrs IST: SK Yadav is in some form. Consecutive boundaries to start the over. KKR need more of these.
21:28 hrs IST: Unadkat to bowl the penultimate over.
21:26 hrs IST: KKR are 130/7 after 18 overs. Another 20-30 odd runs would be very useful for them.
21:23 hrs IST: WICKET! Woakes run out (Smith) 1(3).
21:19 hrs IST: Magnificent over from Unadkat. Wicket and just a run off it. KKR are 120/6 after 17 overs.
21:15 hrs IST: WICKET! de Grandhomme c Sundar b Unadkat 36(19).
21:11 hrs IST: Tahir finishes with figures of 1/36. KKR are 119/5 after 16 overs. Strategic time-out.
21:06 hrs IST: OUT! And just when a partnership was building, RPS strike. Christian removes Pandey 37(32). The hosts in all sorts of trouble now.
21:04 hrs IST: KKR are 103/4 after 14 overs. Pandey 37*, de Grandhomme 23*
21:00 hrs IST: FOUR! Full-toss from Stokes, outside off, de Grandhomme times it well through extra cover.
20:57 hrs IST: FOUR! Back of a length delivery from Christian, Pandey uses the pace and works it past the fielder at short third-man.
20:54 hrs IST: Consecutive sixes for de Grandhomme. Looks in good form. KKR are 89/4 after 12 overs. Can they get past 160?
20:52 hrs IST: Three singles off the last 3 balls. KKR are 74/4 after 11 overs.
20:49 hrs IST: Three boundaries in a row for KKR. Just what they need at this stage.
20:47 hrs IST: Excellent over from Tahir. Four runs and a wicket. KKR are 59/4 after 10 overs. Pandey 14*, de Grandhomme 2*
20:45 hrs IST: Colin de Grandhomme is the next man in.
20:44 hrs IST: WICKET! And the man with the golden arm – Imran Tahir – strikes. Pathan goes for 4(9).
Ooooouuu! New celebrations here from #MahirTahir! Flipper & catches Pathan plumb! #RangWahiJungNayi #KKRvRPS
— RisingPuneSupergiant (@RPSupergiants) May 3, 2017
20:41 hrs IST: Another excellent over from Shardul. Giving no room to both Pandey and Pathan to free their arms. KKR are 55/3 after 9 overs. It’s time-out.
20:38 hrs IST: Dot ball to finish off. KKR are 52/3 after 8 overs.
20:36 hrs IST: SIX! Tossed up, Pandey comes forward and launches it into deep mid-wicket stands.
20:34 hrs IST: Imran Tahir now. He is the second highest wicket-taker currently this season (with 16 scalps from 11 games).
Will we see a #MahirTahir celebration here? Here he comes into the attack! #RangWahiJungNayi #KKRvRPS
— RisingPuneSupergiant (@RPSupergiants) May 3, 2017
20:33 hrs IST: Decent over from the Mumbaikar. Just four runs off it. KKR are 44/3 after 7 overs.
20:29 hrs IST: Shardul Thakur comes into the attack.
20:28 hrs IST: OUT! Sundar strikes again. This time, he gets the ‘Big Fish’ Gambhir 24(19). KKR are 41/3 after 6 overs.
20:26 hrs IST: SIX! Flighted delivery from Sundar, Gambhir steps out and creams it over cover for a maximum.
20:24 hrs IST: Dot ball. KKR are 27/2 after 5 overs. Gambhir 12*, Pandey 0*
STAT ATTACK – Jackson is the 9th overall and first KKR batsman to get out hit-wicket in IPL.
20:22 hrs IST: Consecutive boundaries for Gambhir. The skipper holds the key now.
20:20 hrs IST: WICKET! Unlucky! Sheldon Jackson is out hit wicket 10(9). Looked in decent touch. KKR 19/2 after 4 overs.
20:18 hrs IST: FOUR! Jackson comes down the track and lofts it to long-on boundary.
20:16 hrs IST: Offie Washington Sundar comes in as the second change.
20:15 hrs IST: Unadkat using his variations too perfection. Just two singles off the next four balls. KKR are 14/1 after 3 overs.
20:12 hrs IST: FOUR! Short and wide from Unadkat and Jackson cuts it past the fielder at backward point for his first boundary.
20:11 hrs IST: Unadkat to continue.
20:10 hrs IST: Single off the last delivery from Jackson. KKR are 8/1 after 2 overs.
20:07 hrs IST: Four leg byes. Straying down leg, Gambhir tucks it off his thigh to fine leg boundary.
20:06 hrs IST: Ben Stokes now – from over the wicket.
20:05 hrs IST: WICKET! Unadkat strikes. Narine departs for a duck. Excellent start from RPS. KKR 0/1 after the first over.
20:03 hrs IST: Two slower deliveries from the left-arm pacer and both kept low. Is this the sign of things to come?
20:01 hrs IST: Some movement for Unadkat early on.
19:59 hrs IST: Live action. Gambhir and Narine to open. Unadkat to start the proceedings for RPS.
19: 55 hrs IST: Smith needs 24 runs to become the 13th Australian and 99th batsman overall to score 3000 runs in T20s.
19:47 hrs IST: Nathan Counter-Nile, who has 99 wickets at 22.84 in 79 innings of 81 matches, needs just one wicket to become 13th Australian and 119th bowler overall to complete a century of wickets in Twenty-20 cricket.
19:40 hrs IST: This is what Joe Root, England’s newly appointed Test captain, has to say about Ben Stokes’ performance in the current IPL season.
19:35 hrs IST: So Steve Smith goes with an unchanged side. As for the hosts, a forced change. Robin Uthappa out with a niggle. Suryakumar Yadav replaces him. Sheldon Jackson to keep wickets.
19:33 hrs IST: Here are the playing XI of both teams:
RPS: Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Tripathi, Steven Smith(c), Manoj Tiwary, Ben Stokes, MS Dhoni(wk), Daniel Christian, Washington Sundar, Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir
KKR: Sunil Narine, Gautam Gambhir(c), Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Suryakumar Yadav, Sheldon Jackson(wk), Colin de Grandhomme, Chris Woakes, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav
19:31 hrs IST: Rising Pune Superiant have won the toss and have chosen to field.
STAT ATTACK – KKR have won 12 matches in a row chasing a target at the Eden Gardens. Simply Brilliant!
19:26 hrs IST: For all those who missed yesterday’s action, Corey Anderson’s blistering 41 helped Delhi Daredevils get the better of Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets. Karun Nair’s men have three wins from nine games and will have to win their remaining six to seal a playoff spot.
19:22 hrs IST: Toss in a short while.
19:18 hrs IST: Here is what the teams need to do to qualify for IPL 2017 playoffs – the thrilling endgame.
19:14 hrs IST: Hello and welcome to HT’s live coverage of IPL 2017 game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rising Pune Supergiant.
Led by Gautam Gambhir, KKR have won seven of their ten games this season, and are one of the prime contenders for the title. However, after a poor display with the ball in their last game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), they will be keen to make a winning comeback on Wednesday. (IPL 2017 SCHEDULE)
KKR will be boosted by their 100 % win record against RPS, having won all their three previous encounters against the Pune outfit.
Need to win
16
Points
MUMBAI
INDIANS
Need to win 1
What must they do: If they win three, they are assured of a top-two finish which will give them two chances in the playoffs.
4 Matches remaining vs Delhi Daredevils (May 6), vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (May 8), vs Kings XI Punjab (May 11), vs Kolkata Knight Riders (May 13)
14
Points
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS
Need to win 2
What must they do: If they win one, KKR might still be safe because of good net run rate.
4 Matches remaining vs Rising Pune Supergiant (May 3), vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (May 7), vs Kings XI Punjab (May 9), vs Mumbai Indians (May 13)
13
Points
SUNRISERS
HYDERABAD
Need to win 2
What must they do: If they lose all four, then they must hope Gujarat do not win all four and KXIP win only two out of five games.
3 Matches remaining vs Rising Pune Supergiant (May 6), vs Mumbai Indians (May 8), vs Gujarat Lions (May 13)
12
Points
RISING PUNE
SUPERGIANT
Need to win 2
What must they do: Rising Pune Supergiant need to win two out of the remaining four games.
4 Matches remaining vs Kolkata Knight Riders (May 3), vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (May 6), vs Delhi Daredevils (May 12), vs Kings XI Punjab (May 14)
8
Points
KINGS XI
PUNJAB
Need to win 4
What must they do: They will be hoping that Hyderabad lose their remaining games while Pune Supergiant lose three out of four games.
5 Matches remaining vs Royal Challengers (May 5), vs Gujarat Lions (May 7), vs Knight Riders (May 9), vs Mumbai Indians (May 11), vs Pune Supergiant (May 14)
6
Points
GUJARAT
LIONS
Need to win 4
What must they do: If they lose one, Gujarat must hope Pune lose all their remaining games and KXIP do not win more than two games.
4 Matches remaining vs Kolkata Knight Riders (May 3), vs Delhi Daredevils (May 4), vs Kings XI Punjab (May 7), vs Delhi Daredevils (May 10), vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (May 13)
6
Points
Need to win 5
What must they do: If Daredevils win all their remaining five games, they go to 16 points. They must hope that Sunrisers Hyderabad win only one out of four games while Pune Supergiant lose three out of four games. If Daredevils lose any game, they will have to hope that Pune Supergiant and Gujarat Lions lose all their remaining games.
5 Matches remaining vs Gujarat Lions (May 4), vs Mumbai Indians (May 6), vs Gujarat Lions (May 10), vs Rising Pune Supergiant (May 12), vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (May 14)
Kolkata Knight Riders’ Australian paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile, meanwhile, is one wicket short of becoming the 13th Australian and 119th bowler overall to complete a century of wickets in T20 cricket.
Rising Pune Supergiant skipper Steve Smith too is nearing a landmark of his own. He needs 24 runs to become the 13th Australian and 99th batsman overall to score 3000 runs in T20 cricket.
Smith has made 2976 runs at 30.06 and a strike rate of 127.07 with one hundred and 10 fifties in 130 innings of 149 matches in Twenty-20 cricket so far.
Source: HindustanTimes