Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders: IPL 2015 – as it happened

That will be a nasty blow for Kings XI, who have now lost three out of four this year. They looked dead certainties to take this one, but were undone by sheer aggression from Russell. You wonder how their confidence will be going forward and, you support one team in particular, you have big hopes and dreams over how Mitch Johnson’s confidence will be going forward (you optimistic so-and-so you!).

Match report should be up soon, so do stick around for that. In the meantime, thanks for reading. Bye!

18th over: KKR 159-6 (Y Pathan 28, Chawla 4) target 156 Right, this should be over any minute now. Pathan dabs the first ball of Johnson’s final over to third man for a single, so Russell will get the strike. Can he do it in one hit? Nope, driven out to extra cover where the sweeper cuts it off and keeps them to one run. Pathan pushes for a single to long-off to level the scores, before Russell... is bowled. The commentator in all seriousness says “this is not over yet”. She is, as my colleague Nick Miller notes, literally right. Anyhow, Chawla wafts his first ball down to third man for four.

Backs away and splat go the stumps.

17th over: KKR 152-5 (Y Pathan 26, Russell 65) target 156 We return. 17 runs needed, five wickets left and four overs in which to do it. Pathan edges Anureet wide of the keeper to reduce the target to 13. From being Samuel L. Jackson in Deep Blue Sea (again, dead in the water), these two have turned this match into a rout. To give you an idea what a turnaround it’s been, I took the timeout time to rewrite the top and tail of my match report, which I’d cockily gone ahead and written already. Pathan then whips round the corner for one, before Russell knocks it square for two more. Another exchange of singles, then a tracer bullet down the ground for four to reduce the target to four.

16th over: KKR 139-5 (Y Pathan 20, Russell 58) target 156 Russell brings up his half-century with a mighty clump down to long-on for four. Perera then goes full, but gets his yorker wrong and Russell gets under the low full-toss and slogs it over mid-on for a huge six. Oh and farce now as Russell is dropped. He goes big again but skies it straight up. It drops perfectly into the hands of Maxwell, who doesn’t have to move, but shells it anyway. Australia in crisis, is the lesson we’ve learned here. Time out time.

15th over: KKR 125-5 (Y Pathan 18, Russell 46) target 156 With just 43 needed, George Bailey turns back to Anureet Singh and he offers up a rank full-toss that Pathan clips through mid-on for four. One more to him, then Russell clumps one to mid-off for a hairy couple. It looks like Bailey has hurt his shoulder somehow – he’s barely moving it. Four from the final ball as Pathan plays a late cut with third man up.

14th over: KKR 113-5 (Y Pathan 9, Russell 43) target 156 Johnson is on again and Russell slashes another wide one down to the third man boundary. From being in a crisis, KKR are almost the favourites for this one now. Mitch comes round the wicket and Russell digs out his slower ball for one. Yusuf Pathan on strike and he’s greeted with a half-volley; Pathan gleefully accepts it and caresses the ball softly through extra-cover for four more. Another single, then there should be a run-out, but Axar goes for the direct hit with Pathan stranded mid-pitch rather than simply throwing it in to Johnson to complete the job.

13th over: KKR 103-5 (Y Pathan 4, Russell 38) target 156 Four more to Russell as he heaves Axar Patel’s overpitched delivery through mid-wicket for four. And then he slog sweeps him for six! They’re absolutely fine on run-rate here, it’s just those five wickets. Four more next ball as Russell cuts a wide one hard behind point. 14 from the first four balls, then he pushes out to deep extra cover for a couple more, bringing up the hundred. Two more to the same region next ball before he works a single to long-on to make it 19 from the over.

12th over: KKR 84-5 (Y Pathan 4, Russell 19) target 156 A single apiece as Perera struggles a touch with his line. Russell then gets a slow one in the slot and swings at it like he’s wielding Gregor Clegane’s sword (there you go, Game of Thrones fans), hitting cleanly over extra-cover for a one-bounce four. This run chase isn’t dead quite yet. Perera responds nicely with a wide yorker that the batsman can only bottom-edge into the ground and through to the keeper. The final ball is squirted away for a single to gully.

11th over: KKR 77-5 (Y Pathan 3, Russell 14) target 156 Here’s Mitch again and you fancy he’ll prefer bowling to these two than the mercurial Yadev. He offers Russell a bit of width and the West Indian is far too good a striker of the ball to miss out on that, whistling it through extra cover for four. A couple of balls later he does the same and this time it’s cut behind square on the off-side, to the boundary again. 0-24 from Mitch’s two overs so far and Alastair Cook might as well prepare his Ashes speech now.

10th over: KKR 68-5 (Y Pathan 2, Russell 6) target 156 Perera comes back into the attack and he gets half a chance of a wicket as Russell hammers a shot in the air through extra-cover, albeit so hard that there’s very little chance of the catch being taken. Away it whistles for four. Other than that it’s right on the money from the Sri Lankan all-rounder, just the single off the second ball being worth anything to KKR.

9th over: KKR 63-5 (Y Pathan 1, Russell 2) target 156 Spin now from Axar Patel. Oh and the replays have shown that Ten Doeschate hit the leather off that ball into his pads. That’s a bad decision. This is a good over though, three from it.

8th over: KKR 60-5 (Y Pathan 0, Russell 0) target 156 Already a return to the attack for Sandeep Sharma, with a new batsman soon to be in his sights. I say soon to be, as Gambhir has the strike for now. Albeit not for very long as Sandeep picks up his third wicket, ending the captain’s struggles and turning this from a wobble into... what’s a bit bigger than a wobble but smaller than a crisis? Weirdly we have a mid-over time out and then another wicket! Never mind, let’s call it a crisis now. He misses out on the hat-trick, but Sandeep Sharma finishes with 4-25.

Fast, angled in and the Dutchman plays all around his first ball!

A big wild slash outside off and he feathers a catch through to the keeper.

7th over: KKR 60-3 (Y Pathan 0, Gambhir 11) target 156 They’re sticking with seam as Thisara Perera comes on. Yadav waits and waits and waits on his second ball and then, finally, tips it with the bottom of his bat, deliberately down to very fine third man for four. I like this kid’s moxie a lot. Oh and as I praise him for the cuteness of that shot he tries it again and it gets him in trouble. He walks off utterly livid with himself. Yousuf Pathan comes in.

Aww. Yadav looks to play the cutest of late dabs down to the third man boundary, but waits on it too long and dabs it too fine, and Saha takes an excellent catch diving to his right.

6th over: KKR 53-2 (S Yadav 18, Gambhir 9) target 156 Now, this could define the result here: how is Mitchell Johnson going to do? He’s into the attack for the final powerplay over; he could decimate the innings or he could go around the place and you feel that whichever of those things happens will correspond with who wins the match. And he’s just gone for the most brilliant six by Yadav, who steps miles across to off, picks it up off leg stump and clears fine leg for half a dozen runs. Two more to square-leg, although they’re checking for the run-out coming back after the two batsmen nearly collided mid-pitch. Home comfortably though. Then six off the last ball too, straying on to the pads and again picked up, squarer this time but clearing the leg side and into the stands. Glorious shot to bring up the 50.

5th over: KKR 38-2 (S Yadav 4, Gambhir 8) target 156 Four! But it should have been out as Pandey swings hard and pulls to Axar Patel at deep backward square and the fielder is too far in from the rope and can only tip it on its way to the rope. Had he been back on the fence then that would have been a catch. Sandeep then goes too wide and gets cut for four more behind point, but strikes with his next ball. Suryuakumar Yadav is the new man and he dabs the latest of cuts to the third man boundary to open his account.

Sandeep, after being smacked for consecutive fours, bravely takes the pace of the ball and Pandey chips to Bailey at mid-on.

4th over: KKR 26-1 (Pandey 4, Gambhir 8) target 156 Anureet Singh again and Pandey runs him down to third man for one. This isn’t going to be a cakewalk for KKR if they keep up this standard of bowling. Although Gambhir now misses out on a very wide one that was begging to be spanked for four. Instead he wafts at thin air. As soon as I write that, he spanks a wide one over cover and away for his first boundary. Two swings and two misses to complete the over.

3rd over: KKR 21-1 (Pandey 3, Gambhir 4) target 156 Well that felt desperate from Kings XI. Although the second-ball appeal here doesn’t and isn’t, as it gets that vital early wicket and brings Manish Pandey to the crease. It’s a big wicket that as Uthappa was looking in the mood. Pandey inside edges his first ball past his stumps and down to fine leg, where Axar Patel slides round and keeps them down to three. Gambhir cuts away past gully for a couple and then we finally get a replay of the LBW, which proves I was talking nonsense and it was dead straight.

Thumped on the front pad and up goes the finger. I’m not sure, it was the away swinger and on first viewing I reckon it might have been missing off.

Hold on a minute, we’re checking for a run-out after over was called. A load of nonsense as Gambhir was back in by miles. Surely that ball was dead anyway?

2nd over: KKR 16-0 (Uthappa 13, Gambhir 2) target 156 It is, as you’d expect, Anureet Singh from the other end. Just a leg-bye from his first two balls but then he strays leg-side and Uthappa knocks it round the corner and past fine-leg for four easy runs. Wide next and it’s thrashed hard on the cut, but Maxwell dives and gets a hand to it to save three runs. Gambhir clips to mid-on for a single, then Uthappa does the same. They are perfectly in tune with the required run rate now.

1st over: KKR 8-0 (Uthappa 7, Gambhir 1) target 156 Here we go then. With any luck this won’t take long and I can get to the pub sooner rather than later. Sandeep Singh opens with an inswinger to the right-handed Uthappa, who works it to fine-leg for a couple. A push to mid-off brings one more and cap’m Gautam on strike, and Uthappa might be run out here as they consider a sharp single that was never in. Uthappa stretches as Sandeep removes the bails... and remarkably he’s made it back. He was behind the bowler and that is brilliant hard running from Uthappa. He rewards himself with a crisp clip for four through mid-on.

You’re all off watching the football, aren’t you? Colon, open bracket.

That’s not a terrible, terrible total, but you would think that the defending champions have more than enough firepower to chase it down without too many problems. See you in a bit.

20th over: Kings XI 155-9 (Anureet 1) Mitch, who will have to do something special with the ball for his side to win from here you’d think, comes to the crease and will face Morkel first up. He knocks it away for one, bringing Bailey on strike. Full, clubbed down the ground and Ten Doeschate can do naught but tip it over the rope. Bailey then looks to scoop, but makes a mess of it and fulls flat on his back. Heh, that was pretty funny. One more before the run-out and Anureet gets Johnson on strike for the final ball. And he’s out from it.

What a catch! Johnson absolutely smashes the leather off the thing and Gambhir rises supremely on the edge of the circle to catch it at point.

Bailey goes for an excellent 60 off 49 balls, trying to scramble back for a second after carving it to Ten Doeschate down the ground. The throw was good though and Uthappa whipped the bails off nicely.

19th over: Kings XI 146-7 (Bailey 53) Narine it is and Patel nicks a single off the first ball to bring Bailey on strike. A hard-run couple to mid-wicket for the captain brings up his 50 from 40 balls and, in the context of his entire team hurling their wickets away like Steve Backley, it’s been a good innings. Patel goes to the final ball.