http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rajasthan-c837 – Cricket News Update
After a series of unimpressive performances, defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders finally managed to register a victory when they defeated Rajasthan Royals by 8 wickets here at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Thursday to keep their hopes alive in the lucrative
T20 league.
For the KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir, the victory came as a welcome relief and he credited the spinners for the victory saying a fine performance from the spin bowlers helped them restrict the tourists to a middling total of 132 for 6 on a wicket that was
very good for batting.
"It was an important win. The guys were professional, we bowled very well, the pitch was still good for batting. Spin is our strength, we have some good quality there," said Gambhir while speaking at the post-match press conference.
King http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Khan-c71319 owned Kolkata Knight Riders, who are the reigning IPL champions, have so far played 10 matches this season, and last night’s 8-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals was just there third victory of the season. Ranked 7th on the nine-team points
table, the defending champions now need to win all of their remaining fixtures to stand a chance of qualifying to the tournament play offs.
The KKR skipper said that they still have a long way to go and are not thinking about the qualification outcomes yet, instead they will take the games as they come.
"We still have a long way to go. I do not want to think a lot about qualifying as yet, will take the games as they come. The crowd has been superb here, hopefully it will be the same at Ranchi (which will host Kolkata's remaining home games)."
Gambhir’s Rajasthan counterpart http://www.senore.com/Cricket/R-Dravid-c2229 said that his side’s inability to score runs in the second half of the innings cost them the game.
"We had to try something different. We knew they had the bowlers for this surface. The first 10 overs were important. We did well to score 70 in the first 10 overs, but fell away later. I thought we played very well, they had all the aces, the bowlers for
the surface."
Despite facing an eight-wicket crushing at the hands of Knight Riders, the Rajasthan based IPL franchise still occupies the third spot on the points table and Dravid said they need to play well in their upcoming matches to consolidate their position on the
points table.
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