IPL Results 2016: Latest Scores, Points Table and Updated T20 Cricket Schedule

Royal Challengers Bangalore kept their Indian Premier League Twenty20 play-offs alive with a nine-wicket run over Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday.  

Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers chased down a target of 184 with room to spare, once again showing Bangalore's tremendous ability with the bat. Royal Challengers lost just a single wicket during the chase.

Here’s a look at the latest IPL standings:

Pos	Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Net RR	For	Against	Pts
1	SRH	12	8	4	+0.400	1775/219.5	1746/227.3	16
2	KKR	12	7	5	+0.280	1828/213.2	1847/222.5	14
3	MI	13	7	6	-0.082	2022/252.2	2017/249.1	14
4	GL	12	7	5	-0.747	1832/233.1	1989/231.1	14
5	RCB	12	6	6	+0.640	2272/238.1	2087/234.3	12
6	DD	11	6	5	-0.038	1684/208.1	1734/213.2	12
7	KXIP	12	4	8	-0.371	1842/235.4	1849/225.5	8
8	RPS	12	3	9	-0.078	1776/213.5	1762/210.1	6

Here's the schedule for the upcoming fixtures: 

Date	Time (BST)	Fixture	Venue
Tuesday, May 17	3:30 p.m.	Rising Pune Supergiants v Delhi Daredevils	Visakhapatnam
Wednesday, May 18	3:30 p.m.	Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kings XI Punjab	Bangalore
Thursday, May 19	3:30 p.m.	Gujarat Lions v Kolkata Knight Riders	Kanpur
Friday, May 20	3:30 p.m.	Delhi Daredevils v Sunrisers Hyderabad	Naya Raipur

The full schedule can be found on the IPL's official website. 

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs. Kolkata Knight Riders

Bangalore, 186/1 (Kohli 75, Aravind 2-41) beat Kolkata, 183/5 (Gambhir 51, Narine 1-34) by nine wickets (with eight balls remaining).

Bangalore were desperate for a win to keep their play-off hopes alive, and the team elected to bowl on a damp Kolkata pitch. Iqbal Abdulla quickly took the wicket of star opener Robin Uthappa (two from four), catching the ball after catching the edge of the bat with his delivery.

But replacements Manish Pandey (50 from 35) and Gautam Gambhir (51 from 34) quickly found a rhythm, combining for 14 boundaries and pushing the run rate toward double digits early.

DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/Getty Images

Gambhir was run out in the 11th over, but Kolkata had already scored 90 runs at the time, and with wickets to spare and several more star batsmen coming up, a score of 200-plus seemed possible.

De Villiers caught Pandey in the 14th, and Yusuf Pathan (six from 12) failed to keep the high pace going. A late barrage from Andre Russell (unbeaten 39) and a patient knock from Shakib Al Hasan (unbeaten 18) to end the innings led to a solid score of 183, but cricket writer Ayaz Memon wondered whether Bangalore had done enough:

Cricket writer Mohandas Menon noted Kohli has been fantastic with his feet this season, and another good performance was likely necessary against Kolkata’s elite bowling attack:

Chris Gayle (49 from 31) and Kohli (unbeaten 75) started the chase well, scoring 44 runs in the first four overs and keeping Kolkata's spinners on their toes. But after Sunil Narine dismissed the West Indies star in the eighth over, the run rate dipped, and at the midway point, Bangalore were just behind the pace, needing 9.30 the rest of the way.

De Villiers (unbeaten 59) and Kohli kept the chase alive in the middle overs, but the duo barely ate into the required run rate, which sat at 10.00 with four overs to play. The two scored 29 in the next two overs, however, and cruised to the finish line from there, completing the chase with more than an over to spare.

Per ESPN Cricinfo, Kohli though the chase wasn't as easy as it may have seemed:

"

It was a tricky chase because the wicket was a bit sticky. I knew I had to stay in. We spoke about that.

[...] We haven't always played well in Kolkata, but it feels great that we'll carry this win to Bangalore.

[...] You asked me two games back how we love the situation we find ourselves in, and I told you we love it. There is no room for errors. We have momentum at the right time now, we just want to continue it.

"

Narine was the only Kolkata bowler to take a wicket, finishing with figures of one for 34.

Bangalore still need help to get into the play-offs, but the team's vaunted lineup is finally clicking, and if Royal Challengers do make it out of the group stages, the rest of the IPL better beware.

Kolkata remain among the favourites to win this year's title, even with the loss, but the middle of the order will have to do better against the elite IPL teams once the play-offs start.