Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 9 (ANI): Former Mumbai Indians batter Aditya Tare has lauded Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) resurgence in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season as the team has now won back-to-back four matches after enduring a five-match losing streak in the tournament.

KKR's latest win on Friday came in their clash against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. KKR handed DC a heavy eight-wicket defeat after Finn Allen's brilliant unbeaten 47-ball 100 helped the visitors chase down the target of 143 in just 14.2 overs.

However, the team's start to the tournament was disastrous, losing five consecutive matches, including a no-result. However, under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane, the team has now won four matches on the bounce and are positioned seventh in the IPL 2026 points table with four wins and nine points in 10 matches.

Speaking on Star Sports, JioStar expert Aditya Tare praised KKR for regaining momentum at a crucial stage of the Indian Premier League. He credited the team's comeback to their collective performances, improved spin and pace bowling attacks, and the strong batting form of Finn Allen and Cameron Green. Despite their poor start with five straight losses, Tare believes KKR are now strong contenders for a top-four finish.

'The 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,' Tare said.

While KKR found their rhythm, things have been completely opposite for the Delhi-based franchise. The Axar Patel-led side has won just one match in their last six fixtures and are languishing at the eighth spot in the points table with just four wins and seven losses in 11 matches.

Coming to their loss against KKR, DC, after being sent in to bat, were restricted to 142/8 despite a half-century from Pathum Nissanka and a late 39 from Ashutosh Sharma. Their innings unravelled in the middle overs as they lost wickets in clusters and struggled against KKR's spinners. DC lost KL Rahul, Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, Pathum Nissanka and Tristan Stubbs in quick succession.

For KKR, Kartik Tyagi and Anukul Roy took two wickets each, while disciplined bowling by the spinners kept DC's scoring in check.

Chasing 143, KKR cruised home with 34 balls to spare, led by a stunning unbeaten 100 off 47 balls from Finn Allen, who struck 10 sixes and five fours. He was well supported by Cameron Green, who finished unbeaten on 33.

Speaking on DC's show against KKR, Aditya Tare criticised their lack of intent during the middle overs, saying their batting collapse put excessive pressure on the team. He pointed out that DC failed to counterattack after scoring just 11 runs in five overs in the middle overs (11-16), allowing KKR's spinners to dominate the game. Tare, however, praised Ashutosh Sharma for his late cameo, which helped Delhi post a more respectable total. '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,' Tare said. (ANI)