Kolkata Knight Riders was high on confidence after registering a 22-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad that ensured passage to the playoffs at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday.
Young chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, who took two crucial wickets in KKR’s win, said his team, which beat SRH twice in the league stage, would have the psychological advantage if the two sides met again in the playoffs.
“If we take them on in the playoffs, it will be an added advantage having beaten them in the last round. We will have to keep it simple, knowing their weaknesses,” said Kuldeep.
Kuldeep, who replaced an experienced Piyush Chawla and provided a vital breakthrough by claiming the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan, said he was under pressure to perform. “There was pressure when you replace a senior player but I was happy at the same time. But the way I kept on bowling it released the pressure.
“I had seen some videos of Dhawan and was trying to contain him. I tried to bowl according to the field and bowled a wrong one to get his wicket.”
SRH seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar said this defeat would not affect his team’s rhythm. “We will take this with a positive frame of mind. If we meet them again we know what their strengths and weaknesses are.”
On the defeat in the last league match, Bhuvneshwar said, “We didn’t get the momentum going. We knew we were already in the play-offs and were playing for the top two places. Now we have to switch off and start afresh.”
Bhuvneshwar accepted that the SRH middle order batsmen were a bit rusty. “Mostly our top order has played up to 10-12 overs and the middle order has got hardly any chance. Had they got more opportunity, they would have scored more runs.”
Comments
SHARE