We haven't clicked as a group, lot of areas to get better at - Rathore

A last-ball thriller at the Eden Gardens, which Kolkata Knight Riders won by a solitary run, understandably left the home side in high spirits at a crucial qualification juncture. "Such wins will give us the momentum and give us the self-belief that we can pull tight wins," Varun Chakaravarthy said. "This is exactly what we needed, and we are confident we can pull off the next three matches."

On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals were left ruing their inability to close another match. Their Super Over loss to Delhi Capitals, 2-run loss to Lucknow Super Giants, 11-run loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru and now this 1-run loss to KKR have all made it a season of close but no cigars for them.

"If I am counting right, it's the fourth game in which we got into a position where we should have won it but were unable to finish it. That's the kind of season which we have had,'" Vikram Rathour, RR's batting coach, said.

Riyan Parag, the stand-in captain who made 95 off 45 and even hit Moeen Ali for five sixes in an over, looked like he would take his side home, but his dismissal in the 18th over to Harshit Rana's slower ball allowed KKR to string together a tight few deliveries. It meant that with 22 runs to get off the final over, Shubham Dubey's cameo wasn't good enough.

"Riyan Parag getting out [was the turning point]. If he was in there, I am sure he would have finished it off," Rathour said, who went on to add about how the side hasn't clicked as a bunch and that's cost them games.

"Mostly, all the batters have scored runs. They are in good form, they are batting well in the nets. But it hasn't been happening collectively. Similarly, in bowling as well, we have seen some really good spells individually, but as a group, maybe we haven't clicked. Maybe the fielding hasn't helped a great deal. That is one thing that we have missed. So yeah, a lot of things that didn't go our way this season and a lot of areas to focus on and get better at.

"There is no issue with the quality. We have really good quality in our batting. We were not able to close the game and finish it. I am sure that in the next couple of seasons, we will be a really good batting group and a really good team to compete against."

Rathour also spoke about RR not retaining Jos Buttler. Shimron Hetmyer, the overseas batter who was instead retained, has had a very mediocre season.

"I won't say it was a mistake," Rathour said. Obviously, you could have retained only six. The management is pretty happy with the six that we have retained. Hetty is supposed to be that finisher, and unfortunately, he has had that kind of a season.

"He is a superb player. He has done that in the past, he's done well in international cricket, league cricket or franchise cricket. This year, he hasn't been able to finish the games. That was his role basically. People are allowed to have those kinds of seasons. I have worked enough in cricket to know that really good players also go through lean phases. Unfortunately, Hetty had a poor season this year, which will happen once in a while. If he had a good season - and we are sure that he is going to improve - I don't think we have any issue with the finishers then."