IPL 2018 | Kolkata Knight Riders peaking at the right time, opines Dinesh Karthik

After thrashing out by Mumbai Indians for over a 100-run margin, Kolkata Knight Riders have overcome magnificently to get their campaign back on track, with three consecutive victories and became the third team to qualify for the playoffs. The Dinesh Karthik-led side yesterday (May 19), clinched an easy win against table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad in their own backyard to prove their mettle and got the all-important momentum before the commencement of playoffs. 

Chasing 173 for victory, Kolkata started with superb knocks from Chris Lynn (55) and Robin Uthappa (45) to chase down the total with two balls to spare. Captain Dinesh Karthik also made a useful contribution of 26 runs and remained unbeaten to take his team over the line. Dinesh Karthik looked extremely pleased with his team’s performance and added that the squad is peaking momentum at the right time as well as sorted out the playing eleven fiasco.

"At the end of the day, we strive for a playoff spot. At the end of 14 games if the combination doesn't set, then we're doing something wrong (laughs). It's good to see we are pulling back games. Touch wood, I'd like to think we're peaking at the right time. Feels good to be here," Karthik said at the post-match presentation ceremony, as reported by India Today.

The opponent skipper, Kane Williamson, who tasted the third consecutive loss towards the last leg of the league, after their dream run of six straight wins, said that SRH need to do a few adjustments here and there before the next stage.

"It's playoff cricket, so we need to stick to our strengths. We were just a fraction off the mark. We just needed one more partnership to put the foot on their throat, but they did bowl well,” said Kane Williamson.

"We've played on such a variety of surfaces, and that's been a strength of ours actually. It's a fine line. We just need to do a couple of adjustments," he added.

Williamson didn’t hesitate to give the credit to Kolkata Knight Riders, for their performance in the match. Talking about the reason for the loss, the captain asserted that they were few runs short - looking at the ideal start they had, after the mid-innings. 

"It was a little patchy from us. A few more runs would've been handy. We were on target for 200 but well done by KKR to pull things back. Some character showed by our boys," the New Zealand captain observed.