Such wins give lot of confidence: Gambhir

Buoyed by the emphatic win against defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in their Indian Premier League clash, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir on Saturday said such wins always add to his side's confidence and they now need to continue the momentum.

The Knights zoomed atop the table with a 17-run win over the Sunrisers at the Eden Gardens earlier in the day.

Gambhir himself seemed confident personified during the presentation ceremony post the game.

"Quality side would try and win in any situation whether it is bowling first or batting first. We were a good chasing side, but a win like this gives us so much confidence," Gambhir said, after his bowlers pegged the holders to at 155/6 in reply to the hosts' 172/6.

"Lot of people regard us as a chasing side and I think we can take a lot of confidence especially after this win."

Gambhir said he understood that chasing 170 would always be tough on the track after seeing Sunrisers spinner Rashid Khan bowl.

"After we saw Rashid bowl, we knew that spinners would be effective and 170 was always going to be tough," he said.

"If we can bowl well in the first six overs, we know that we can build pressure with 2 quality spinners. It is always a luxury when you have spinners like Kuldeep (Yadav) and (Sunil) Narine.

He praised the batting of Robin Utthappa, Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan.

"They have been hitting really well and we need to continue the momentum," he said.

--IANS

ssp/vd