Rattled KKR up against confident CSK

Still smarting from their defeat at the hands of Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Kolkata Knight Riders will have to get their act together soon and come out all guns blazing against defending champions Chennai Super Kings in their IPL return-leg match here tomorrow.

Still smarting from their defeat at the hands of Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Kolkata Knight Riders will have to get their act together soon and come out all guns blazing against defending champions Chennai Super Kings in their IPL return-leg match here tomorrow.

HT Image

KKR's three-match winning run came to a halt yesterday, when Kochi defeated the Shah Rukh Khan-owned side by 17 runs. And with just four more matches left in round robin stage, there is little room for error for KKR, which will be hoping to return to winning ways tomorrow.

Going into tomorrow's clash at the historic Eden Gardens, there is little difference between the two teams on the points table with both on 12 each. However, CSK have played nine matches compared to KKR's 10. which have so far proved that they are a team to reckon with KKR can take heart from the fact that in this edition of the Twenty20 league unlike the first three seasons.

Unlike the first three editions of the Twenty20 league, KKR have been a picture of consistency so far in this tournament. Both their batting as well as bowling department have clicked as a unit from the onset even as there was an aberration yesterday, against Kerala where their middle-order choke from a winning position.

Even in their loss against Kochi, the KKR found out a bright spot in their English recruit, Eoin Morgan who returned to form with a 51-ball 66-run knock. It will surely give a lot of confidence to skipper Gautam Gambhir, who promoted Morgan to the opening position along with an in-form Jacques Kallis after the English lefthander was lacklustre in the first-half of the tournament.

Morgan came good finally in a tantalising opening partnership with Kallis to keep KKR in the hunt before the middle-order collapsed to record their second loss at the hands of Kochi. But Gambhir refused to read much into the defeat and was looking forward to the clash mouth-watering against CSK. "Wining and losing are part and parcel of the game. You really can't do much about it.

Our boys played well and with little more luck, we could have also won the match (against Kochi)," Gambhir had said. "About qualifying for the play-offs, till you reach that stage, you are always knocking on the doors of qualification. So, basically you need to play good cricket and try and win matches. It's as simple as that. You try to move on from here and concentrate on the next match," he insisted. On second spot in the team standings, KKR definitely would not want to slip from here after having done all the hard work. Their middle-order comprising Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary would look to strike the right chord while Yusuf Pathan along with Mark Boucher would hope to be clinical with their finishing roles.