IPL 2017: RPS vs KKR - As it happened...

Robin Uthappa named Man of the Match for his brilliant 87.

On the very first delivery of the 19th over, KKR seal a 7-wicket win following a brilliant performance with the bat.

Over 18 | Score 180/3 | Bravo 2, Pandey 0

Gautam Gambhir dismissed after hoofing the ball up before the fielder at mid-on caught the ball. Too little too late for Pune.

WICKET! G Gambhir c Thakur b Christian 62 (46b)

Over 17 | Score 178/2 | Gambhir 62, Bravo 0

Such an easy run chase it has been for KKR or rather Gambhir and Uthappa have made it look like one. The latter's brilliant innings, however, comes to an end but he has done enough to help his side sail past Pune.

WICKET! RV Uthappa c Tripathi b Unadkat 87 (47b)

Over 16 | Score 173/1 | Gambhir 58, Uthappa 86

Gautam Gambhir pips Hashim Amla to become IPL 10's orange cap holder. Uthappa, meanwhile, has smashed Tahir for two back to back sixes and that too big ones. If there were enough runs on the board, Robin might have got a hundred today.

Alert! Gambhir is the new orange cap holder.

Over 15 | Score 159/1 | Gambhir 57, Uthappa 73

Required rate drops to less than 6 as RPS players' shoulders start dropping. 24 needed form the last 5 overs. It's a mere formality now!

Over 14 | Score 146/1 | Gambhir 50, Uthappa 69

Tahir brought into the attack but KKR batsmen in no mood to let him build any sort of pressure. Gambhir completes his fifty now!

Over 13 | Score 135/1 | Gambhir 41, Uthappa 67

Required run rate now under 7 as the match seems to be slipping away from the hands of RPS. KKR charging forward to top the IPL standings with a solitary win today. 48 needed from 42.

Over 12 | Score 123/1 | Gambhir 39, Uthappa 62

Pune players clueless on what needs to be done to break this partnership. 12 runs from the over!

Over 11 | Score 111/1 | Gambhir 33, Uthappa 57

Another dropped catch! This time Gambhir it is. KKR seem to be racing away to clinch this win.

Over 10 | Score 101/1 | Gambhir 31, Uthappa 49

Required run rat drops below 9 as Uthappa continues to punish RPS bowlers. That dropped catch is coming back to haunt Steve Smith and Co. 14 runs form the over.

Over 9 | Score 87/1 | Gambhir 25, Uthappa 41

Uthappa not sparing Tahir too. He has changed the coarse of the atch in the last couple of overs. Required run rate continues to drop and Pune need to break this partnership quickly. 11 runs form the over.

Over 8 | Score 76/1 | Gambhir 22, Uthappa 34

Expensive ver for RPS as Washington Sundar is smashed for 4,6,6 on the first three deliveries of the over. 20 runs from the over.

Over 7 | Score 56/1 | Gambhir 19, Uthappa 17

Imran Tahir introduced by Steve Smith as the powerplay gets concluded. Uthappa dropped by Unadkat on deep fine leg boundary. This might prove too costly to RPS.

Over 6 | Score 45/1 | Gambhir 14, Uthappa 11

Dan Christian brought into the attack and conceded 7 runs from his first over.

Over 5 | Score 38/1 | Gambhir 13, Uthappa 5

Gambhir with two boudnaries off Sundar's bowling, piercing through the point and cover boundary. The KKR skipper finally gets going!

Over 4 | Score 28/1 | Gambhir 3, Uthappa 5

Robin Uthappa off the mark with a chip 'one bounce four'. KKR need this partnership to stick, otherwise the total won't be easy to chase.

Over 3 | Score 21/1 | Gambhir 2, Uthappa 0

MS Dhoni conjures 'wicket-keeping' magic yet again to hand RPS their first success of the match. The dangerman Sunil Naraine departs. Robin Uthappa the new man to walk in.

WICKET! SP Narine run out 16 (11b)

Over 2 | Score 18/0 | Smith Naraine 15, Gambhir 1

Two fours for the Sunil Naraine to set off the second over on a positive note. 10 from the over for KKR.

Over 1 | Score 8/0 | Smith Naraine 6, Gambhir 1

Naraine starts off his innings with a boundary early in his innings. Only singles since then as both him and Gautam Gambhir get off the mark in the first over.

Over 20 | Score 182/4 | Smith 51

A six by Smith on the first delivery of the over to complete his fifty. Only singles since then till the 5th delivery of the over. The final ball resulted in Christian beind dismissed at mid-wicket boundary.

RPS post 182, giving a target of 183 runs for KKR to win.

WICKET! DT Christian c Pandey b Yadav 16 (6b)

Over 19 | Score 170/4 | Smith 43, Christian 15

A double and two singles form the first three deliveries. Dan Chrisitan gets a 6 on 5th and 6th deliveries of the over to keep Pune's hopes of a big score alive.

Over 18 | Score 152/4 | Smith 39, Christian 2

Kuldeep Yadav continues and dismisses MS Dhoni on the very first delivery of his over. A well deserved wicket for Kuldeep as Dhoni departs for 23. The in-form Manoj Tiwary is the new batsman to walk in but is dismissed after a brilliant piece of work by Uthappa behind the stumps to get him out stump, after doing the same to dismiss Dhoni earlier in the same over. Dan Christian walks in.

WICKETS!

MS Dhoni st Uthappa b Kuldeep Yadav 23 (11b)

MK Tiwary st Uthappa b Kuldeep Yadav 1 (2b)

Over 17 | Score 147/2 | Smith 37, Dhoni 23

Smith smashes Naraine to a boundary on the very first delivery, three singles and two dot balls after that. In total, 7 runs from the over.

Over 16 | Score 140/2 | Smith 31, Dhoni 22

Kuldeep Yadav continues to strive for a wicket and so does KKR, while MS Dhoni looks to be in mood of hitting boundaries from the begining this time. Another six for the former India captain.

Over 15 | Score 129/2 | Smith 28, Dhoni 14

Dhoni gets his first 4 of the innings after a miss-field, and subsequently fires a brilliant six, advancing down the middle and smashing one over Chawla's head.

Over 14 | Score 114/2 | Smith 26, Dhoni 1

Sunil Naraine reintroduced in attack and is unluckily gone for 4 on the very first delivery. Another stumping appeal at Rahane and he is gone this time. Dhoni, once again, has come out to bat at No. 4 and RPS will be expecting a big performance from him again today.

WICKET! AM Rahane st Uthappa b Narine 46 (41b)

Over 13 | Score 107/1 | Rahane 46, Smith 20

Smith with another diving effor to reach crease on time. Rahane looks on course to reach 50 as Pune cross 100-run mark in the 13th over. 

Over 12 | Score 98/1 | Rahane 45, Smith 12

Steve Smith, Ajinkya Rahane continue going strong, look set to reach 100-run mark with just one wicket lost.

Over 11 | Score 89/1 | Rahane 37, Smith 11

Rahane welcomes Kuldeep Yadav in attack with a four of the very first dilvery. Six runs from the over.

Over 10 | Score 83/1 | Rahane 32, Smith 10

Rahane again survives a close stumping appeal! Piyush Chawla spinning his magic and giving RPS batsmen some trouble. Boundary for Rahane on the 4th delivery of the over as Pune look to be thriving at home.

Over 9 | Score 74/1 | Rahane 26, Smith 7

Steve Smith survived a run-out on only the 2nd delivery of the 9th over after putting a dive to cross the crease in time. One of the duo would need to hit to continue momentum. Rahane is progressing at a strike rate of 100 so far. Smith, meanwhile, gets his first boundary off the innings. Strategic time out called.

Over 8 | Score 65/1 | Rahane 24, Smith 0

Piyush Chawla introduced into the attack by KKR skipper Gambhir and he almost dismissed Rahane on the very first delivery. This is Tripathi's 5th consecutive 30+ score in this IPL. Chawla, on 5th delivery of the match bowled Tripathi after the ball took an inside edge off the bat and went on to hit the stumps. Yusuf Pathan would be relieved now! Steve Smith the new batsman to join in.

WICKET! RA Tripathi b Chawla 38 (23b)

Over 7 | Score 62/0 | Rahane 22, Tripathi 37

Rahul Tripathi dropped by Yusuf Pathan near the mid-on boundary after the batsman skied one off De Grandhome's delivery. This could be a costly error!

Over 6 | Score 53/0 | Rahane 19, Tripathi 31

Tripathi continues his scintillating form, smashes Naraine for a 4 on the off side after shuffling in his crease to create room for the shot. He then, scored to consecutive on 5th and 6th deliveries of the over. The duo are not wasting any ball. Boundaries and singles continue to flow, much to the frustration of the bowler.

Over 5 | Score 42/0 | Rahane 17, Tripathi 22

Ajinkya Rahane gets the first six of the over, smashes Chris Woakes for a dead straight maximum. Tripathi, subsequently, smashed the Englishman for a 4, again dead straight. 12 runs from the over.

Over 4 | Score 30/0 | Rahane 10, Tripathi 17

Sunil Naraine brought into the attack as Gambhir breaks Chris Woakes' spell. Will the West Indian bring KKR their first success of the match? A stumping appeal was referred to the third umpire on but Tripathi came out unscathed.

Over 3 | Score 25/0 | Rahane 8, Tripathi 15

Trouble-free start for RPS as they keep getting at least a boundary every over. The duo of Rahae-Tripathi also rotating strike regularly to prevent pressure from being built.  

Over 2 | Score 14/0 | Rahane 7, Tripathi 6

Chris Woakes partners Umesh as the opening bowler against Pune. The pitch is producing good bounce and carry to begin with. Fast bowlers will be key for KKR yet again. 8 runs from the over.

Over 1 | Score 6/0 | Rahane 1, Tripathi 4

Umesh Yadav opens KKR's attack in Coulter-Nile's absence. Pune's settled opening pair of Rahane and Tripathi start the batting side's proceedings. The 5th over of the ball went for a 4 behind the stumps.

RPS XI: A Rahane, R Tripathi, S Smith, F du Plessis, MS Dhoni, M Tiwary, D Christian, W Sundar, J Unadkat, S Thakur, I Tahir

KKR XI: G Gambhir, S Narine, R Uthappa, DM Bravo, M Pandey, Y Pathan, C de Grandhomme, C Woakes, P Chawla, K Yadav, U Yadav

Darren Bravo and Piyush Chawla in for the Knight Riders. Supergiant bring in Faf du Plesis.

Gatuam Gambhir wins the toss and elects to bowl first.

We aren't far away from the toss. Stay tuned!

This will be Gautam Gambhir's 100th match for Kolkata Knight Riders. Having won against the Supergiant in both of the previous two matches, can he complete a hat-trick today?

The big update from the match is that KKR's star against RCB, Nathan Coulter-Nile is not a part of this match as skipper Gautam Gambhir looks to manage work load of players. He didn't even travel with the team to Pune.