McCullum dedicated Knight Riders thrilling win to the fans

KKR skipper McCullum hopes yesterday's thrilling win will make the supporters proud

KKR skipper McCullum hopes yesterday's thrilling win will make the supporters proud

It's a pity that Kolkata Knight Riders did not do well in the 2009 Indian Premier League.
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The atmosphere at the games has been fantastic, but it could have been even more exciting had they done well.

Brad Hodge celebrates after the thrilling win.

If you happen to bump into anyone from the Indian diaspora here, you cannot escape a barrage of questions about Shah Rukh Khan's team.

Proof came at cricket's most-waited tournament, when the biggest crowd-puller at IPL's Grand Parade was SRK's team.

Sadly, the fans never got a chance to support the team in full gusto. But, there was some consolation for the fans in their penultimate game yesterday.
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For once, they got plenty to shout about as skipper Brendon McCullum and Brad Hodge lit up the Centurion with exhilarating batting.

For once, Knight Riders flags were being waved with great enthusiasm all around the park. McCullum and Hodge batted like men possessed to script a spectacular run-chase.

CSK made 188 for three and KKR crossed the target off the last ball when Wriddhiman Saha chipped Suresh Raina over mid-off for a single.

McCullum hit 81 off 48 balls while Hodge blasted 71 not out off 44 balls with four sixes and four fours.
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In his message to the fans, McCullum said: "We have given everything we possibly could in these last few weeks.

Things haven't gone our way and we have faced some pretty tough times as a group and that includes our supporters as well. This, I suppose, is a small payback.

Hopefully, we will manage to continue to make our supporters proud with the way we have always tried to step up and managed to try and overcome adversity through the tournament.

"We still have a fantastic team base and guys have got messages of support from all over the world. It shows that people still care about the team."

It's a bit ironic that the most under-performing team of the tournament came out and played the best game of the tournament. The fans sure would be proud of yesterday's super show.