Back-to-back defeats have virtually thrown Kolkata Knight Riders out of contention for a semifinal spot in the Indian Premier League but coach Dav Whatmore remains hopeful of a miracle turnaround for the team. Last night's loss to Chennai Super Kings has left Kolkata second from bottom in the points table with just five wins in 12 matches. Reflecting on the nine-wicket loss here, Whatmore said his team misread the pitch and conditions. u00a0"It was disappointing. I guess, we misread the pitch before the game. We picked four medium pacers and they had two. Probably, they knew a bit more than That is the nature of the game. Teams are winning on form. We need to turn it around quickly from one game to the next. Conditions here are different," he said in the post-match press conference. "We are to deal with different conditions and different opponents. These things contribute to wins and losses. We are on the road for two games and unfortunately we have not picked any points," he added. u00a0Whatmore said if Kolkata manage to win their remaining two matches, they might just sneak on the basis of net run-rate. "Teams can still get healthy run rate with seven wins. We have five and two more games to go and we will press very hard from a pride point of view. But I think, you need to have a pretty decent run rate to be confident of still making the semifinal berth. We came across so far some decent sides plus conditions that were also difficult," he said. Whatmore said there would be a review of the team's performance. "There will be a decent review. We still got two games to go and lot to play for. We are pretty proud bunch of guys. We may be facing a situation of not being able to qualify. But, it is okay. We still have two games to go. We need to press hard." u00a0Man of the match R Ashwin, who scalped three wickets, said he was glad to have made use of the opportunity after being left out earlier. u00a0"I was just waiting for my opportunity. I am working on a few things. I told myself that the new ball will spin lot more than the older ball. I never worked to bowl with the new ball. I think that did the trick," he said. The off-spinner missed out on a hat-trick after Angelo Mathews was given not out despite gloving one to the wicketkeeper. "No doubt about it. Later on, Simon Taufel came and told me that he was sorry and that he missed it," he said.

Back-to-back defeats have virtually thrown Kolkata Knight Riders out of contention for a semifinal spot in the Indian Premier League but coach Dav Whatmore remains hopeful of a miracle turnaround for the team. 

Whatmore still hopes of a turnaround for KKR

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Whatmore still hopes of a turnaround for KKR

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