Kolkata Knight Riders gun for playoff berth as Royal Challengers Bangalore look to stay afloat

KOLKATA: Fresh from their triumph over the mighty Chennai Super Kings, the high-flying Kolkata Knight Riders will look to seal their playoff berth when they face Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday.
Kings XI Punjab (18 points) and the Super Kings (16) have already ensured their passage to the next round, while the Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals (14 each) are knocking hard.
Both KKR, who have won five games on the trot, and Rajasthan Royals will be through if they clinch any of their last two fixtures.
If KKR maintain their winning their winning streak on Thursday, it will be curtains for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Virat Kohli & Co, who have 10 points with two matches to play, can at best finish with a tally of 14.
So it's a must-win game for RCB if they are to keep alive their slim chances of qualifying.
KKR will start as favourites -not only because of their red-hot form but also as the Eden track is ideal for their spin-oriented attack.
Sunil Narine, Shakib Al-Hasan and Piyush Chawla have taken 36 wickets among them and have tamed most of the batting units they have come up against.
On Thursday, though, the trio will face a tough test as they will be up against some of the biggest hitters of the game in the form of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and AB de Villiers.
Even if two of them fire, RCB can make things difficult for KKR, so the hosts need to be on their guard as they gun for a playoff slot.
KKR's Plan A has worked perfectly so far -win the toss, put the rivals in and start the chase well riding on the good form of skipper Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa.