11.20pm Chris Lynn was out injured and popular opinion was that Uthappa should be reunited with Gambhir at the top. Instead, Narine walked out to open with Gambhir. It wasn't really a surprise, given Narine had opened three times for Melbourne Renegades in the BBL. Narine was also among the top six-hitters in the PSL. After a few plays and misses, Narine unleashed his favourite leg-side swats, while Gambhir played more orthodox shots. KKR moved to 76, their best score in the Powerplay. Narine and Uthappa fell, but Gambhir stayed till the end to seal the 171 chase with eight wickets and 21 balls to spare.

Maxwell, Kings XI captain: I thought we had a chance with 170, the ball was swinging and seaming. We had an extra quick. I was not surprised by Narine opening the batting, he has done it in the Big Bash. They got away from us and that opening partnership basically took the wind out of us. One poor over where we lost three wickets, then we lost our way. We will have to regroup for Delhi.

Gambhir, orange-cap holder and Knight Riders captain: This is a beautiful wicket to bat on and we had some quality fast bowlers. Umesh coming back made it easy for us. I need to start trusting Narine with the bat now! He is a quality bowler, and the leader of the attack irrespective of the conditions. Narine can hit a big ball, we have a long batting line-up, and so we sent Sunil in at the top. He won't face many balls at No. 9 anyway.

Narine, Man of the Match: It came off today. Some days it might not. Yes, I enjoyed batting [shades of WG Grace in your batting?] I opened there at the BBL, and today I said 'anything for the team'. I just try to keep things simple with my bowling. Just stick to the basics.

This is Narine's first Man-of-the-match award in the IPL since 2014. That is all we have for you from this match. Do come back for the double-header tomorrow. Until then, goodbye and good night.

Deepnash: "That 3 wicket over from Umesh Yadav made the difference in the end"

16.3
6
Stoinis to Pandey, SIX, attempted slower cutter outside off, Pandey jumps down the track, takes it on the half-volley and mows it over the man at long-on. Eighth successive win for KKR v Kings XI
16.2
0
Stoinis to Pandey, no run, another slower delivery outside off, even slower at 105ks, asks Pandey to reach out wide outside off. Guided to point
16.1
1
Stoinis to Gambhir, 1 run, slower offcutter outside off, 107ks, moves away, Gambhir squirts to cover

END OF OVER:
16 | 7 Runs | KKR: 164/2 (7 runs required from 24 balls, RR: 10.25, RRR: 1.75)

  • Gautam Gambhir71 (48b)
  • Manish Pandey19 (14b)
  • Sandeep Sharma3-0-28-0
  • Mohit Sharma3-0-30-0
15.6
1
Sandeep Sharma to Gambhir, 1 run, low full-toss on off, punched down to long-on

Blazing start

76

This is Kolkata Knight Riders' highest Powerplay score

Strong comeback

3

Umesh Yadav, who missed KKR's first two matches of the season, took his third four-wicket haul in T20s on return

New job

1

Marcus Stoinis was batting at No. 3 for the first time in 30 T20 innings

Advantage KKR

7-0

Knight Riders have beaten Kings XI in all seven of their most recent matches in the IPL