Kolkata captain Gambhir lauds effort against Punjab

Despite having a formidable outfit Kolkata Knight Riders so far had a mixed outing in the Indian Premier League season five, but skipper Gautam Gambhir on Wednesday said if they "play to their potential they are strong side to beat" in this tournament.

KKR beat Kings XI Punjab comfortably by eight wickets on Wednesday to notch up their third win in IPL V.

In the six matches they played so far in the tournament, KKR has registered three wins and as many loses, which puts the Kolkata outfit in the third position in the points table behind Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils.

"I have always believed that if we play to our potential, we are a strong side to beat," Gambhir, who led the 125-run chase with an unbeaten half century, said at the post-match presentation.

Chasing a modest 124 for seven set by Kings XI, KKR rode on Gambhir's 66 off 44 balls to overwhelm the target in 16.3 overs.

"The way we restricted them was an excellent effort on such a flat wicket," said the left-hander, who also won the Man-of-th-Match award for his fifty.

The KKR skipper, however, feels that the Player-of-the-Match award should have gone to his Delhi team-mate Rajat Bhatia for his one for 23-run spell in the middle overs.

"My Man of the Match to be honest is Rajat Bhatia," Gambhir said.

Kings XI captain Adam Gilchrist feels that his hamstring injury, which forced him to retire hurt in the sixth over only to come later, took the sting out of the home team's innings.

"My injury took the direction out of our innings. Hard to say what was a good score on this wicket," he said.