After a run of six wins in seven games, Kolkata Knight Riders appears to have hit a speed-breaker in IPL-10, suffering successive defeats. There is no cause for alarm, but KKR would rather stroll into the playoffs next week than look nervously over its shoulder.
Victory over a beleaguered Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday will ease some of those concerns, taking Gautam Gambhir’s side to 16 points, a tally that has proven enough for teams in previous seasons.
KKR had completed a hat-trick of wins before running into David Warner in Hyderabad. Three days later, a weak batting performance, followed by Rahul Tripathi’s heroics, led to defeat at home. RCB may remain rooted to the bottom of the table, but KKR is taking nothing for granted. “There’s no such thing as easy prey in T20,” said the side’s assistant coach Simon Katich. “If you don’t turn up with the right attitude and start afresh, you can be paying the price. That showed in the last game, when we played Pune.”
Uthappa trains
Robin Uthappa, who had scored fifties in his previous three games, missed the Pune fixture with a hamstring injury. The Karnataka batsman trained here, with a decision on his availability to be made later.
In more good news for KKR, Chris Lynn, who dislocated his shoulder earlier in the season, is close to a return. “He had a couple of hits in Kolkata before we left,” Katich said. “He’s progressing quite nicely. At this stage, he could well be available for selection tomorrow (Sunday).”
There are also concerns over all-rounder Nathan Coulter-Nile, who was struck on the helmet by Pune’s Daniel Christian while batting. “He is shaken up,” Katich said. “Head injuries and concussions are something that have been on the forefront of the game since the Phillip Hughes incident.
“He has been okay over the last couple of days but has been a bit off-colour. We can’t force these things. But I think he should be available as well.”
RCB, for its part, will hope to bring its supporters some cheer in its last home game of the season. Virat Kohli, whose own form has been poor, was a distraught man after the loss — RCB’s fourth in succession — to KXIP on Friday. “It’s disheartening,” he said. “Anything we’re trying is just not working. It’s difficult to find motivation when you’re playing like this.” It has, quite simply, been a season to forget.
The scores: RCB vs KXIP (on Friday): Kings XI Punjab 138 for seven in 20 overs (Manan Vohra 25, Axar Patel n.o. 38, Aniket Choudhary two for 17, Yuzvendra Chahal two for 21) bt Royal Challengers Bangalore 119 in 19 overs (Mandeep Singh 46, Sandeep Sharma three for 22, Mohit Sharma two for 24, Axar Patel three for 11, Glenn Maxwell two for 15).
