New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) Former cricketer Aditya Tare has praised Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) newfound form after a poor start to the season, saying this turnaround in their campaign will fancy their chances of getting into the race for the top four.

KKR kept their playoff dreams firmly alive, registering their fourth consecutive victory with a commanding eight-wicket win over DC on Friday evening. Following a clinical bowling performance that strangled the hosts on a weary Arun Jaitley Stadium, KKR made light work of the 143-run target. The chase was defined by a breathtaking maiden IPL century from Finn Allen, who decimated the Delhi bowling attack to seal the match in just 14.2 overs.

“IPL is won by teams that build momentum at the business end and KKR, with back-to-back victories, have turned their season around when it mattered the most. They have some great match-winners, and now they have started to fire together as a unit. Their spin attack has come back to life, which has given them an edge.

“Their pace attack is picking up regular wickets. The form of Finn Allen and Cameron Green with the bat is looking good. They lost five games in a row at the start, but now they have turned it around and will fancy their chances of getting into the race for the top four,” he said on JioStar.

started with fluent intent as openers Pathum Nissanka and KL Rahul negotiated the early overs effectively. The trio of Sunil Narine (1-17), Varun Chakaravarthy (0 -28), and Anukul Roy (2-31) delivered an absolute masterclass in slow bowling, choking the DC middle order as the host were restricted to a paltry total of 142/8.

Reflecting on DC’ batting collapse against KKR, Tare said, “Delhi’s middle-order collapse put them under too much pressure. Their batters failed to shift the momentum back onto the bowlers. There was a clear lack of intent. You rarely see such a passive stretch of play in T20 cricket; where a team manages to score only 10 runs off 30 balls in the middle overs, you might as well be bowled out for 120.”

“But at least try to attack and put the pressure back on the bowling side. That was completely missing from DC’s batting. Credit to Ashutosh Sharma for his late blinder, which helped Delhi salvage some respectability. Otherwise, it was the KKR spinners who completely dominated those middle overs and never let the game slip,” he added.

KKR will now look to carry forward this blitzkrieg form and push for a fifth consecutive win in the matches ahead.

–IANS

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