Kolkata Knight Riders’ charter flight from Lucknow to Kolkata on Monday was diverted to Guwahati due to inclement weather in the city, the team announced. Kolkata are due to play a match at home, at the Eden Gardens, against Mumbai Indians on May 11.
“Due to inclement weather over Kolkata, the KKR charter flight has been diverted to Guwahati. We’ve just landed here,” the franchise said in an official statement at 8:50 PM IST on Monday. However, shortly later, they go “clearance to fly back to Kolkata,” with an estimated time of arrival being 11:00 PM IST.
KKR’s previous IPL 2024 match was in Lucknow, where they beat LSG at the Ekana Stadium on Sunday by an emphatic margin of 98 runs to climb to the top of the table. They now have eight wins from 11 matches this season and stand on the verge of making the playoffs for the first time since 2021, when they have reached the final.
With three more games in hand, KKR are a certainty to make the playoffs and also finish in the top two at the end of the league stage. If they do, it will be their best show in the league stage since 2014, when incumbent team mentor Gautam Gambhir had led them to a title win.
The match against Mumbai on Saturday will also be their last home game this season. Kolkata have so far won five of their seven matches at the Eden Gardens. Their only two defeats came against Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings last month.
Following the Mumbai game, KKR will travel to Ahmedabad to take on Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium before ending their league-stage campaign against Rajasthan at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati.