Kallis Rues over the Loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad

The South African veteran Jacques Kallis, who is also the head coach of Kolkata Knight Riders said that it is difficult to get over the loss to Sunrisers in the second qualifier.

Cricket news: I was confident that our team will go on to win the title for the third time, says Jacques Kallis

Kallis feels that his team should have easily won the match but the Sunrisers got the better of KKR and won by 14 runs to progress to the finals.

Kallis who scored over 15000 runs for his country said, “A good night’s sleep can help with many ills and it can certainly ease the disappointment of a sporting defeat but it doesn’t change the fact that we lost a game we should have won. We lost it rather than Sunrisers won it.”

Kallis felt that all was going well before Rashid Khan’s 10-ball 34 which helped the Sunrisers to post a defendable total of 174.

During the chase, KKR was once again in good position with 87/2, but soon lost 4 wickets for just 31 runs which dented their chances. The effort of young Shubman Gill went in vain as KKR failed to go through.

“It is a hard pill to swallow and the guys will struggle with it for a few more days yet. We had some pretty comprehensive wins in this year’s tournament but I’m not sure we dominated any game as much as we did this one – and we lost,” Kallis pointed out.

“From a coaching perspective I sat in the dugout feeling confident and in control for 90 percent of the game – that’s how much I felt we dominated. So when you don’t win a game with that much possession then you probably have nobody to blame but yourselves.”

Kallis, who was considered as the greatest all-rounder of his time, also praised the Hyderabad side for their tenacity and not giving up in the face of pressure and congratulated them for their performance all throughout the season.

“Having said that, for every action there is a reaction and it would be completely wrong not to give credit to the Sunrisers who hung in there for long periods under intense pressure and never gave up. They are a tenacious team with a terrific attitude and this wasn’t the first time they had won a game they seemed destined to lose,” added Kallis.

“But it was still a successful campaign and tournament for the Knight Riders team and franchise and one that everyone can be very pleased about. There is an abundance of young talent which makes the future of the team look very bright indeed. We will be back stronger and wiser next year and ready to compete for another title – with smiles on our faces and supported by the best fans in the country, if not the world.”