After thumping win over Bangalore on Sunday, Gautam Gambhir's Kolkata Knight Riders look to hurt Kings XI Punjab's slender play off hopes tonight
Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir (second from right) celebrates the dismissal of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Virat Kohli with teammates during their match in Bangalore on Sunday. PIC/AFP
A play-offs spot having sealed after a resounding victory in their previous match, Kolkata Knight Riders would aim for a top-two finish with a win when they take on an inconsistent Kings XI Punjab in an IPL match here tonight.
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KKR bounced back from back-to-back defeats when they registered an easy six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in Bengaluru on Sunday.
KKR in second spot
The Gautam Gambhir-led side are now at second spot in the league table with 16 points from 12 matches with the help of eight wins, and they would look to consolidate their position with a win over Kings XI, who suffered a six-wicket defeat to Gujarat Lions on Sunday. KKR showed why they are one of the strongest teams in this IPL when they inflicted a humiliating defeat on bottom place RCB. Chasing a modest 159 for victory yesterday, KKR made it easy, racing to 105 for no loss in just six overs for a record IPL powerplay total.
They achieved the target with 29 balls to spare on the back of Sunil Narine's record joint fastest IPL fifty - from 15 balls - and an equally aggressive knock from Chris Lynn (50 off 22 balls).
Umesh Yadav, Chris Woakes and Narine will be the bowlers on whom KKR will mainly bank upon.
Slim hopes for Punjab
Glenn Maxwell-led KXIP, on the other hand, have a slender chance to make it to the play-offs since they have only five wins from 11 matches, and are placed at the fifth spot with 10 points. They now need to win all their remaining three matches if they have to have any chance of making it to the knock-out stage. Their chances of a play-offs berth were severely dented by their six-wicket defeat at the hands of Gujarat Lions on Sunday.
The home side were on a roll with back-to-back wins, but defeat at the hands of Gujarat Lions caused a serious dent to their play-off hopes.
Inconsistency has been KXIP's ban in the IPL and now, every match they play will be a knock-out game. After KKR, they face formidable Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiant, which will make it an uphill task for them.
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