‘KKR still have chance to make play-offs’
Kolkata slip to fifth spot after a crushing 102-run defeat
Despite twin defeats to nemesis Mumbai Indians in the space of three days, Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Dinesh Karthik feels his side still have a “great chance” of making the Indian Premier League play-offs.
KKR slipped a rung to the fifth spot after a crushing 102-run defeat to Mumbai at the Eden Gardens here on Wednesday night, days after the Indians continued their dominance over the purple brigade with a 13-run triumph at home.
With three more games to go, KKR now have to win all of them to ensure their safe passage to the knockout stages and not leave their fate on other teams.
KKR take on Kings XI Punjab next followed by Rajasthan Royals at home, and table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad on the road to finish their engagements.
“I am very disappointed. But there are three games and we take one game at a time,” Karthik told reporters after their humiliating loss to MI which stretched their sorry record against Rohit Sharma’s side to eight straight reversals on the trot.
Heavy defeat
“So if we win the games I know we have a great chance of getting to the playoffs. I believe in that and want my teammates to believe in that,” Karthik said.
The heavy defeat, the largest margin in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), saw KKR’s net run rate plummet to -0.359, the worst among eight teams in the tournament. “After this game, our run rate has taken a hit. We will take a call as the run rate has come to minus now. If we play three good games, it will go up,” Karthik said.
Ishan Kishan’s 21-ball 62 in the middle overs took the game away from KKR, Karthik said.
Mumbai posted a mammoth 210/6 in reply to which KKR got bundled out for just 108, their first all out of the season.
“He changed the run rate and played some nice shots. We bowled in an area he could have got out but he took on the bowlers at that stage.”
“We succumbed to pressure and played a few bad shots and lost too many wickets in the Powerplay. When you lose too many wickets in the Powerplay, it’s always going to be hard,” Karthik said.