KKR captain Gautam Gambhir.

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With the Knight Riders' next match (vs Kings XI Punjab on Sunday) also scheduled at home, maintaining the winning momentum will top their agenda.

Whereas Rahul Dravid's men appear a bit tired with the hectic scheduling, the Knights are fortunate to get a day's extra break after their win against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday.

It took the think-tank a bit of chopping and changing to get to the winning mode after the back-to-back losses against Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals in season five.

The four changes in the line-up meant that skipper Gautam Gambhir elevated himself to his usual slot, dropping out of form Kiwi opener Brendon McCullum, a move that set the tone in their much-needed maiden victory this season.

Gambhir led the way with a brisk 39-ball 64 to set up a total of 166, which eventually turned out to be a winning one.

But their biggest plus point was the inclusion of veteran seamer Laxmipathy Balaji whose fired-up spell of 4-1-18-4, after Kallis took the prized-scalp of Chris Gayle, set the victory.

"Balaji is a quality bowler and has the capability to take wickets on any pitch. Hats off to him for the way he bowled. This was the best spell that I have ever seen in a Twenty20 competition," Gambhir said.

"It feels nice to finally get a win under our belt. To be honest, it was a team effort. I am pretty happy by the performance of the boys."

KKR would hope that sports psychologist Dr Rudi Webster give some mantra to the explosive Yusuf Pathan.