Former Mumbai Indians star Aditya Tare has claimed that the Kolkata Knight Riders will fancy their chances of reaching the playoffs after the Ajinkya Rahane-led team’s fourth win of the season. KKR, who were lingering at the bottom of the points table for quite some time, have found success in their previous four matches.
The 2024 champions are on a four-match winning streak after going winless in six matches in a row and are eager for a late push to make it to the top four. KKR are placed seventh on the points table with nine points, with one coming through a washed-out game with the Punjab Kings.
IPL is won by teams that build momentum at business end: Tare
The former MI star stated that the tournament is won by the teams who find success at the business end of the tournament. “The IPL is won by teams that build momentum at the business end and KKR with back-to-back victories have turned their season around when it mattered the most,” Tare said on JioStar.
“They have some great match-winners, and now they have started to fire together as a unit. Their spin attack has come back to life, which has given them an edge. Their pace attack is picking up regular wickets.ย
“The form of Finn Allen and Cameron Green with the bat is looking good. They lost five games in a row at the start, but now they have turned it around and will fancy their chances of getting into the race for the top four,” he added.
DC’s middle order fails against KKR
While Pathum Nissanka took the Capitals off to a strong start, the DC batting order unravelled against the KKR bowlers later. The former cricketer also shed light on the batting collapse. “Delhi’s middle-order collapse put them under too much pressure. Their batters failed to shift the momentum back onto the bowlers. There was a clear lack of intent.ย
“You rarely see such a passive stretch of play in T20 cricket, where a team manages to score only 10 runs off 30 balls in the middle overs, you might as well be bowled out for 120. But at least try to attack and put the pressure back on the bowling side.ย
“That was completely missing from DC’s batting. Credit to Ashutosh Sharma for his late blinder, which helped Delhi salvage some respectability. Otherwise, it was the KKR spinners who completely dominated those middle overs and never let the game slip,” he said.
ALSO READ |ย Finn Allen joins Brendon McCullum, Andre Russell in elite list with stellar century against DC