The bottom-placed side Rising Pune Supergiants were facing the two-time champions Kolkata Knightriders at Eden Gardens. The Knights were in good form throughout this season. Even though they faltered a few times, KKR looked formidable side compared to their opponents whose IPL campaign was ruined by injuries. Gautam Gambhir lost his third consecutive toss as Dhoni opted to bat first.

The decision was not a good one, as Pune didn’t have the firepower to post a big total and challenge the KKR batting line-up. RPS started off slowly and they lost their openers by the 5th over. The first to go was Ajinkya Rahane who chopped a wide delivery onto his stumps. Usman Khawaja followed when he tried to slog sweep Shakib Al Hasan over deep mid-wicket, only to be caught at the boundary line. Saurabh Tiwary and George Bailey started with the rescue mission, but they too perished leaving RPS reeling at 74-4 at the end of 11th over. The KKR spinners bowled miserly to dry up the flow of runs, with skipper MS Dhoni battling it out at one end. The match was interrupted with heavy rains in the 18th over when Pune had reached 103/6.

The rains finally stopped but overs were lost and target had been revised. KKR had to chase 66 in 9 overs to win the match. RPS’s prospects brightened up when the KKR openers got out in the first over. R Ashwin did well, to get the in-form duo of Gambhir and Robin Uthappa. But RPS’s glimmer of hope was soon dashed by the explosive Yusuf Pathan. He hammered R Ashwin and Murugan Ashwin 22 and 13 runs respectively to almost finish the game. The blitzkrieg from Pathan got KKR to victory with 4 overs to spare, with Pathan scoring 37(18). With this win, KKR moves to the second position, on par with SRH.