IPL 2018: Three reasons why KKR will qualify for the final
It is the last week of the Indian Premier League and the fans across the globe are anticipating as to who will win the crown on May 27 at the Wankhede stadium. The Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals are the four teams who have made the playoffs this season.
The Knight Riders will be looking to erase their last season's disappointment after missing out the finals spot narrowly, under Gautam Gambhir. With 16 points from 14 games, Dinesh Karthik's men finished third in the points table and qualified for the playoffs. With both the Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad losing their league games against the Knight Riders at Kolkata, it is advantage KKR in the playoffs.
They face the Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator on May 23rd, and a victory against the 2008 champions will see them competing against the table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Qualifier-2 ( a virtual semi-final) for a place in the Sunday's final at the Wankhede stadium. Let us now look at why the Knight Riders will make the summit-clash this season.
#1 Home advantage
A crunch game in front of 66,000 vociferous KKR fans at Eden Gardens - it couldn't have been any better for Dinesh Karthik's men, who are gunning for a place in the IPL finals, after missing out narrowly last season. In terms of the stadium atmosphere, the Eden Gardens is certainly one of the best in the IPL.
The Knight Riders won five out of their seven homes in the league stages of this season. They lost just three games at home - against table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad (by 5 wickets), Mumbai Indians (by 102 runs) and Kings XI Punjab.
The Knight Riders last played an IPL playoff at home during the 2014 IPL (Qualifier-1) where they won by 28 runs against the Kings XI Punjab en-route to their second IPL title. They will absolutely cherish the prospect of playing in front of their fans.