Kolkata Knight Riders are the only team of the  original eight to have  not made the IPL semi- finals but seem to have  assembled a squad  capable of making it this  time. The latest evidence of that came on Thursday against Delhi Daredevils When their formidable  batting stuttered, their  bowlers stepped up to  pull off a victory that  brought their campaign  back on track after two  successive losses had  brought back memories of dismal previous seasons.  A win over Kings XI  Punjab on Saturday could send them to the top of  the table. Punjab's bowlers have  had a week's rest since  the pasting they received at Feroz Shah Kotla  and  now face another tough  test as they come up  against one of the  strongest batting units  in the tournament. Adam Gilchrist's side were  widely reckoned to be  among the weakest  before the start of the  tournament but they  have done surprisingly  well so far, partly due to  Paul Valthaty's heroics. The reason Punjab aren't in the top half of the  table is that they have  only played five matches, while everyone else have played at least seven. " We have to deal with  what we are presented  with in the schedule,"  Gilchrist said. "We are  very keen to play though it's a little odd to have a  full week break and then  have nine games in the  next 21  days." Form guide (most recent first) Kolkata  WLLWW (second in points table) Punjab  LWWWL ( seventh in points table)                 Team talk- Kolkata are still  searching for a reliable  wicketkeeper-batsman to  partner Jacques Kallis at  the top of the order.  Their pool of candidates  was reduced when Brad  Haddin was  ruled out  of  the tournament with a  broken finger. Shreevats  Goswami made some runs against Delhi but is yet  to cement his spot.  Kolkata also need to  decide whether to retain  the misfiring Eoin  Morgan. Punjab have to sort out  their bowling  combination. They need  to decide which Indian  medium-pacer to pick  along with Praveen  Kumar. Shalabh  Srivastava didn't impress  in his previous match,  which could open the  door for either Love  Ablish or Vikramjeet  Malik. In the spotlight Shaun Marsh  can make a credible case for being  the most consistent  batsman in IPLs - he has  an astonishing ten 50- plus scores in 19  innings. His 95  was the  outstanding innings in  the  runfest against Delhi , giving them a fright  even after they posted  the biggest total of the  season. Kolkata brought back  left-arm spinner  Iqbal  Abdulla  for the game  against Delhi , which  proved a canny decision.  With eight wickets,  Abdulla is their joint top  wicket-taker and his  three strikes were  instrumental in changing the course of the Kotla  match on Thursday. Prime numbers Manoj Tiwary is  averaging 97  after six  innings this season Paul Valthaty needs  one more six to equal  Yuvraj Singh for most  sixes in the season The chatter "I think a lot of people  get caught up in results.  I don't come into this  game getting petrified  that Kolkata won the last game."
 
 
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