KKR - 172-2 - beat KXIP, who achieved 170-9. Gambhir struck an unbeaten 70 to get them over the line, after Patel had caught Narine for 37 off Aaron, and bowled Uthappa for 26. It was the eighth win by a chasing side in 11 games this season. Gambhir racked up his 33rd IPL fifty, equalling David Warner's tally in the tournament. KKR have not lost an IPL game at the Eden Gardens while chasing since 2012.
Before that, Umesh had posted 4-33 after Kings XI had initially made a bright start with a 53-run opening stand between Hashim Amla and Manan Vohra, their second successive fifty-plus stand. They fell for 25 and 28, removed by de Grandhomme - via a Gambhir catch - and Chawla respectively, before Narine clean bowled Stoinis for 9 and Umesh claimed Maxwell for 25 (caught by Uthappa), Miller (caught by Pandey) for 28, Saha caught by Woakes for 25, and Patel, caught by Narine for a golden duck. Woakes claimed 2-30, removing Sharma - caught by Yadav for 10 - and Aaron for a duck, caught by Gambhir.
Kings XI raced away to 45 for 0 in the first four overs, forcing Gambhir to look at his slow-bowling options after he opened with the seamers and they proved expensive. The spin of Narine and Chawla swung the match, and stalled KXIP's momentum, and they lost three wickets in 27 balls in the middle overs, falling from 66 for 1 to 98 for 4. KKR, like Melbourne Renegades and Lahore Qalandars, promoted Narine to open the chase. Of all bowlers who have bowled 50 balls or more in the IPL, Narine has the best economy at the Eden Gardens - before today's game, he went at 6.17 per over. This was the first time Narine won a Man-of-the-Match award in the IPL since 2014.
Gujarat Lions v Rising Pune Supergiant tomorrow. Lions won both matches last season but have lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 9 wickets, and lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by ten wickets. Pune lost to Delhi Daredevils, and lost to Kings XI Punjab, but beat Mumbai Indians. Jadeja is back but the Lions will continue to miss the injured Dwayne Bravo and their overseas combination is set to be revamped, with either Tye or Faulkner deployed to beef up a bowling attack that has picked up only one wicket in two matches. For Pune, Smith has recovered and Tiwary, who also missed the last game following his father's death, has re-joined the squad.
It was Khan who did the damage last time out when he struck in his first over to trap McCullum in front, and went on to dismiss Finch and Raina respectively in identical fashion in each of his next two overs. Obviously, Gujarat missed Jadeja, but full credit to Rashid: he has the advantage of spinning the ball both ways and he has a shorter frame and that allows him to maintain a flatter trajectory without even trying. He bowls flat and fast, which makes the ball skid off the surface and that makes it tougher for batsmen to use their feet and it's also tougher to get under him. Smith has struck only 34 runs with two fours off the 39 balls he has faced against Jadeja in the IPL. He has also fallen to Jadeja four times in eight innings. No other bowler has dismissed Smith more than twice.
Elsewhere, Kohli says he’s fit and firing and will return for RCB vs Mumbai tomorrow. Kohili had 973 runs at an average of 81.08 and a strike rate of 152.03 last year, RCB will also have to make another choice between specialist wicketkeeper Vishnu Vinod, who had been signed as KL Rahul's replacement, and part-time wicketkeeper Kedar Jadhav. Mumbai Indians, bowling first on both occasions on chasing-friendly grounds, won both games last season. RCB lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 35 runs, beat Delhi Daredevils by 15 runs, lost to Kings XI Punjab by eight wickets, while Mumbai lost to Rising Pune Supergiant by seven wickets, beat Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets, beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by four wickets.
Since Malinga's return from international duty, only Ambati Rayudu's absence does not let them be a full-strength side. Their headache is the form of fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan, who has conceded 129 runs and taken three wickets in three games this season. In a like-for-like replacement, Mumbai may bring in Southee for McClenaghan.
Will RCB field Gayle? Gayle's weakness against right-arm spinners has been accentuated in the IPL. He has scored 771 runs in 574 balls in the IPL, at a strike rate of 134, and has been dismissed 19 times in 56 innings in which he has faced right-arm spinners. Against Harbhajan Singh, Gayle has scored just 65 runs in 65 balls in the IPL, with three dismissals. Using left-arm spin to limit damage against ABDV seems a reasonablye tactic, too. Against left-arm spinners, de Villiers has scored 448 runs in 330 balls, at a strike rate of 135.75. He has also been dismissed nine times in 46 innings. Who can Mumbai use? Pandya has conceded just seven runs in 10 balls against de Villiers. Krunal dismissed him twice in the last season. Likewise, RCB have been Malinga's only nemesis in the IPL. He has taken just 13 wickets against RCB at an an average of 36 - his worst average against any team in the IPL. At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Malinga has taken 5 wickets in 20 overs, at an average of 31.80 and an economy rate of 7.95, his worst at any venue where he's bowled at least 20 overs. Malinga v de Villiers? De Villiers has scored 71 runs in 42 balls against Malinga without being dismissed. Malinga has a T20 economy rate of 6.74, compared to 10.14 against de Villiers. In the 2016 IPL, Kohli had a single: dot ball ratio of 1.58 (291 singles: 184 dot balls). By contrast, Gayle had a single:dot ball ratio of 0.322 (29 singles: 90 dot balls).