Follow UsKolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pulled off a close one-run win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) on May 4 (Sunday) in Kolkata. RR were primed to go all the way, given how their skipper Riyan Parag was going. However, KKR held their nerve and pulled off an incredible win, which keeps them in the hunt to make the playoffs.
KKR spinner Varun Chakaravarthy, who finished with 2/32 in the match, says that such close wins give the team self-belief that they can win from any situation.
"Such wins will give us momentum and give us the self-belief that we can pull off tight matches. And this is exactly what we needed this time. So from here, I'm hopeful that we can pull off the next three matches. We have done it before. So no excuses from us here," Chakaravarthy said at the post-match press conference.
KKR are sixth on the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 points table and need to win their remaining three league games to stay in the hunt for a place in the playoffs. Chakaravarthy says that the team have been in a "knockout" mindset for some time now.
"We have to win all the matches; it becomes a knockout. So we are of the mindset that we still have six knockout games, three here and two in the playoffs -- five knockout games. Every game is a knockout from here, so you have to bring our A game, and good that we had this win, from that we'd be able to get a good momentum into the next game," the spinner said.
KKR, who have won two games in a row, will hope to continue their momentum as they take on bottom-placed Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on May 7 (Wednesday) in Kolkata.