Kolkata Knight Riders have lived to fight another day. After the string of defeats had consigned them to ‘mission must-win’ for their remaining league matches, KKR came dangerously close to having the door shut on them on Thursday. It was a fumbling Sunrisers that allowed the Knights escape to victory in Hyderabad.

KKR are nevertheless left with the near-impossible task of winning each of their four matches to keep playoff hopes alive. Worse, even as the Knights brace for battle against Punjab Kings at the Eden Gardens on Monday, their gnawing thought will still be ‘things haven’t quite fallen into place.’ KKR have remained a daunting prospect, but only on paper. The dismissal of Rahamanulla Gurbaz on Thursday all but summed up their predicament in IPL-16.