On Wednesday, the Kolkata Knight Riders ended Rising Pune Supergiant’s three-match winning streak at the MCA Stadium, Pune. KKR won the toss and decided to chase. Pune set them a target of 183 on a track that had little to offer for the bowlers. Robin Uthappa (87 off 47) and skipper Gautam Gambhir (62 off 46) shared a 158-run partnership for the second wicket that ensured an easy win for Kolkata in the end. With the win, KKR dethroned Mumbai Indians at the top of the table with Pune still on fourth spot. However, the match also shelled out statistics that would make Kolkata proud.
- Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir played his 100th match for Kolkata, and mind you he has been the captain in all of them. He became first player from KKR and ninth overall to appear in 100 matches for one IPL team.
- Robin Uthappa reached 30 stumpings in the IPL – the most by any wicketkeeper. He overtook Pune’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has 29 stumpings to his name.
- Uthappa also smashed his 16th fifty in IPL, the second most by any wicket-keeper after Dhoni who has 17.
- Gambhir scored his 50th fifty in the Twenty20 cricket against Pune. He became the second Indian to do so after Virat Kohli who has 52 (4 hundreds and 48 fifties).
- Chasing seems to be Kolkata’s favourite thing to do. Against Pune, they won their 45th match while chasing a target – most by any side in the IPL.