Last-four berth at stake as Bangalore host KKR
Smarting from successive defeats, an under-pressure Kolkata Knight Riders will look to regain their momentum and remain in the hunt for the knockout stage when they clash with Royal Challengers Bangalore in an encounter on Sunday.
KKR, who suffered losses against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rising Pune Supergiant in the last two matches, need two wins out of the remaining three matches to seal their berth in the play-off. The two-time champions are placed second in the table with 14 points out of 11 matches, followed by RPS and Sunrisers at 14 and 13 points.
During their last meeting, KKR had handed out a 82-run defeat to RCB after bowling them out for 49 -- the lowest score in IPL history -- and Gautam Gambhir’s men would look to repeat the performance on Sunday.
In the next two matches, KKR would be facing a resurgent Kings XI Punjab, who registered a thrilling 19-run victory against RCB last night in a low-scoring game, and a formidable Mumbai Indians, who were the first team to qualify for play-off with 16 points, in 10 matches.
Rookie batsman Rahul Tripathi of RPS played an electrifying match-winning innings of 93 to stand in the way of KKR after they were restricted to 155 for eight.
Gambhir’s side lost by four wickets and the defeat could be a reality check for the Kolkata side as their top order collapsed in the last match, while Colin de Grandhomme’s 36 and Manish Pandey’s 37 saved the blushes.
KKR so far has been cashing in on Sunil Narine’s hit- and-miss experiment at the top. When
Narine gets going, there is no stopping them as more often than not Gambhir and
Robin Uthappa have capitalised on the starts.
But in the event of a failure of the trio, the likes of Yusuf Pathan must take up responsibility. Pandey has been in good form but Sheldon Jackson has not yet delivered and Jharkhand’s Ishank Jaggi might just get a look-in. RCB, on the other hand, have been the biggest disappointment of this year’s IPL. With their confidence torn to shreds after their capitulation on Friday against KXIP, it will be a big task for skipper Virat Kohli to instill some self-belief in the team, who would be playing for pride.