Kolkata Knight Riders sealed the third position of the points table and secured their playoff berth after they won by five wickets against Sunrisers Hyderabad in a match on Saturday.
Cricket news: It is always advantageous to play at home as the crowd and pitch is very supportive, says Shubman Gill
The eliminator and the second qualifier match will be played at the Eden Gardens. Kolkata will be happy going into the playoff battle, after a topsy-turvy league season, and knowing that they will be playing at home which is an added booster of confidence.
Kolkata’s young and promising batsman Shubman Gill said, “Obviously we are feeling great and looking forward to who we meet in the eliminator. It’s always an advantage to play at home. It’s beneficial to play matches at home. The crowd is very supportive. We will also have a better idea of the wicket compared to other teams.”
Against Hyderabad, at one point it seemed that Kolkata would have to chase a tall score. But the Knights played brilliantly in the death, especially the bowlers, and prevented Hyderabad from posting a big score.
“I think the way we bowled at the death overs that was the turning point of the match. Prasidh Krishna (4/30) bowled really well. All the bowlers bowled really well at the death. Bowlers have good days and bad days. But the way we are coming back is really great,” Gill said.
Sunrisers have one of the best bowling attack in the entire league as they have defended many low totals. Gill said that it was because of the good start they successfully chased down the target.
“We got a good start. The wicket felt good. Initially we thought it would take spin but as it panned out, it went off well. We have been getting good starts in almost every match. That gives batsmen coming lower down the order time to score.”
When asked whether they would have batted first had they won the toss, Gill said, “We thought the pitch would take turn towards the end of the match. Basically it was their (SRH) decision to bat. We thought pitch would slow down but even that didn’t happen.”