A victory against Royal Challengers Bangalore today will be enough for Gautam Gambhir and his men to to book play-off berth in the seventh edition of IPL; Mumbai Indians still in reckoning
KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir (second from right) celebrates the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan with teammates during their match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday. Pic/PTI
Kolkata: A win away from clinching an IPL play-off berth, the high-flying Kolkata Knight Riders would look to complete the formalities against a beleaguered Royal Challengers Bangalore when the two teams clash at the Eden Gardens here today.
KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir (second from right) celebrates the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan with teammates during their match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday. Pic/PTI
The Knight Riders have shown glimpses of their form in the triumphant 2012 season when they enjoyed their largest winning run of six matches, a record they would look to emulate after notching a high five with an eight-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings here on Tuesday.
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Robin Uthappa's belligerent 39-ball 67, his fourth half century of the season, followed by Shakib Al Hasan's 21-ball 46 not out ensured that the Knight Riders cantered home with two overs to spare.
The win was significant as it brought on a four-point divide between the top four and bottom four teams, a gap that would be difficult to bridge especially for teams like Bangalore and Hyderabad who are not technically out of contention.
Uthappa's has been phenomenal after being promoted up the order with his last seven innings reading 47, 65, 47, 46, 80, 40 and 67. With 489 runs from 12 matches, Uthappa leads run charts among the Indians and lies next to Orange cap holder Glenn Maxwell who has 531 from 11 matches.
RCB pray for a miracle
Royal Challengers are well aware that even two wins in a row won't help their play-off chances if some other results don't go their way. On the batting front, Chris Gayle and Parthiv Patel have looked out of form and in their match against Hyderabad.