Uthappa likely to play next game: Chawla

Injured wicketkeeper-batsman Robin Uthappa might be back for Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) next Indian Premier League (IPL) game against Kings XI Punjab on Tuesday, leg-spinner Piyush Chawla said after their six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore here on Sunday.

"Today he was doing his fitness and all. So, hopefully, he will be good to go in the next game. Hope for the best," Chawla said at the post-match media interaction.

The Karnataka batsman has been in superb form, amassing 384 runs in nine innings at an average of 42.66 before he pulled his hamstring and missed KKR's last game at home.

Commenting on Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine's opening stand of 105 in first six overs chasing 159, Chawla said it took the game away from their rivals.

"The way they batted, it was brilliant. In the first six overs, the game was taken away from RCB.

"The best part of their innings was that they backed themselves. If you see their whole innings, there was no cross-batted shots... they played all cricketing shots," he said.

Chasing a target of 159 runs, KKR romped home in 15.1 overs for the loss of four wickets riding on a 105-run stand by Narine (54; 17b 6x4 4x6) and Lynn (50; 22b 5x4 4x6) in just 6.1 overs at a run rate of 17.02.

--IANS

dm/ajb/dg