Supergiant slayed as Kolkata go top

The result: Rising Pune Supergiant 5-182 (Smith 51no, Kuldeep 2-31) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 3-184 (Uthappa 87, Gambhir 62) by seven wickets with 11 balls to spare

The match in a tweet: Kolkata climb into top spot! Uthappa & Gambhir combine for match-winning stand as Smith's unbeaten 51 isn't enough for Pune

The partnership: Indian pair Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir are two of the form batsmen in IPL10 and showed their class again against the Supergiant, both batsmen striking their third half-centuries of the season and complementing each other wonderfully. Uthappa was particularly aggressive, taking advantage of the quickened-up pitch as the dew settled on the Pune pitch to smash six sixes in his 47-ball 87. Gambhir was sedate in comparison, striking 62 from 46 to claim the orange cap from South African Hashim Amla and become the first player to pass 300 runs this tournament in what was his 100th match for KKR. 

The selection dilemma: Ben Stokes was absent through injury (captain Steve Smith offered no more clarity than that) which left Pune with a selection dilemma: Smith had no shortage of options, including Australia teammate Adam Zampa, but instead went for Proteas batsman Faf du Plessis. It might have been a costly decision, since it was one less option with the ball and, in the end, du Plessis wasn't required with the bat. 

Dhoni delight: He had a lean start to this year’s IPL but the former India captain looks to have bounced back from his mini-slump. Promoted to No.4, Dhoni joined Smith at 2-112 in the 14th over and needed just four balls to find the boundary. The right-hander pulled leg-spinner Piyush Chawla for four, before skipping down and putting his next offering over the sightscreen. Another six followed and while he departed for 23 soon after, his 11-ball knock got Pune going through the middle before Smith took the reins. And the Indian’s deft flick - which ultimately only served to bring Uthappa together with Gambhir for their match-winning stand - to cleverly run-out Sunil Narine was a vintage Dhoni move.

The widest wide: Pune appeared to run out of ideas during the Kolkata run chase, and Shardul Thakur didn't exactly help the cause when he bowled this Harmison-esque wide for five runs, the ball splaying wildly down the leg side and racing to the rope. 

The stat: The Gambhir-Uthappa show produced a second-wicket stand of 158 runs - the 11th highest in IPL history and the second-highest for Kolkata.  

The Aussies: Smith's appetite for runs knows no bounds. Ricky Ponting told cricket.com.au recently that he feared for the Aussie skipper with the sheer volume of cricket he's playing, however the unorthodox right-hander continued doing his thing for Pune overnight, crunching another unbeaten half-century to move into equal fourth spot on the run-scorers list (275 runs at 55). The highlight of the knock was a six sliced beautifully behind point. Dan Christian made the most of the six balls he faced, hitting two sixes in his 16, before taking 1-31 from four. Despite his heroics against RCB, Nathan Coulter-Nile was rested from KKR's XI. 

The wash-up: Kolkata now sit in first spot on net run-rate with six wins from eight matches, narrowly ahead of Mumbai. They're up again on Friday afternoon, hosting Delhi. Pune meanwhile, hold onto fourth spot and next face a home clash against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday.