'Destiny is still in our hands. If we play two good games of cricket, we are through to the play-offs and that's what we are interested in.'
Kolkata Knight Riders may not have been consistent so far in this year's Indian Premier League but chief coach Jacques Kallis believes it's a matter of playing two good games which can seal a play-off berth for them.
The Dinesh Karthik-led side lost two back-to-back matches to Mumbai Indians but revived their campaign by posting this season's highest total of 245 for six in an away match against Kings XI Punjab, to clinch an important victory to keep themselves in the hunt.
The win means KKR's fate hangs in balance with two more rounds left in the round-robin league. Interesting, both Kolkata and Rajasthan are on 12 points each from 12 games, with the former just ahead on net run rate.
"Destiny is still in our hands. If we play two good games of cricket, we are through to the play-offs and that's what we are interested in. It's about taking one game at a time and play well tomorrow," Kallis said on Monday, on the eve of their match against Rajasthan Royals at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, are on a roll with a hat-trick of wins.
"We are not really worried about what the rest of the teams are doing," Kallis said acknowledging that it's a matter of executing their skills on the ground.
"Both teams are coming to confidence, so it's going to boil down who executes better on the day. It's pretty even when it comes to how the teams are coming into this game."
KKR are ahead of RR on net run-rate but Kallis said: "Winning will be the priority."
Jos Buttler has been in imperious form with five half centuries in a row to boost Rajasthan Royals' campaign and Kallis said they will look to have plans in place for the batsmen.
"He certainly has been consistent and in good form. So we obviously have to make sure we have some good plans against him and the rest of the batters as well. Hopefully they will work for us to win the game," he said.
Kallis also lauded the captaincy of Dinesh Karthik, who has also been consistent with the bat.
"He likes leading from the front, he leads with a lot of energy. He obviously has got lot of experience and understands the game pretty well. It's been a fairly smooth transition. Hopefully we can come up with good game plan tomorrow which leads us to victory," he concluded.
