A team that didn’t look like topping the points table from anywhere but the bottom for four years is finally atop the IPL-V league standings, turning Knighthood into a badge of honour almost every Calcuttan is wearing.

Halfway through the Kolkata Knight Riders’ face-off with the Delhi Daredevils on Monday, it dawned on Ankita Mookherjee, 25, that the team she had been rooting for since 2008 with little reward would top the table if it won that match.

In her own words, the MPhil student at Calcutta University felt “a rush of exhilaration” she hadn’t known in five years of IPL.

“The round-robin league is almost over and we are No. 1, that too after beating Delhi. I am ecstatic,” gushed Ankita, a Sovabazar resident who adores KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir.

Last Saturday’s match between the home team and hometown hero Sourav Ganguly’s Pune Warriors India had put fans through the wringer, pitting head against heart in a battle on who to support. Many of those who had turned up at the Eden Gardens that afternoon held placards or banners proclaiming: “Head says KKR, heart says Dada.”

If not the result of that emotion-tinged match, KKR’s table-topping display on Monday might have just put it all behind for the torn fan.

“The fact that we have never been in this position before makes this ascent to the top spot in the league table so thrilling. We have been shouting ourselves hoarse for KKR, but it’s only now that the words jeetbo re (we shall win) in the team anthem seems real,” said Shabaz Alam, 21, a student of Birla Institute of Technology who had queued up at the Mohammedan Sporting ground for tickets to last Saturday’s match but returned empty-handed.

Such is the fan frenzy following KKR’s winning stretch that its next home match, against the Mumbai Indians this Saturday, is already a sell-out barring the clubhouse tickets. Few tickets remain for the last home match as well, versus the Chennai Super Kings two days later.

“The final three home matches (May 5, 12 and 14) were always high-profile matches because of Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and M.S. Dhoni. Now with KKR topping the points table, the demand for tickets has shot through the roof,” said Jeet Banerjee of Gameplan Sports, which is associated with the Knight Riders.

A senior official of Ticketgenie, the agency contracted to sell IPL tickets, confirmed the rush. “We began over-the-counter sale of tickets to the last two matches on Sunday morning. The KKR-Mumbai match is sold out, except some tickets for the clubhouse seats. About 7,000 tickets remain for the match against the Chennai Super Kings, which we expect to sell by Wednesday afternoon,” he said.

Not just the fans, even the Knights are feeling the adrenaline rush after the victory against Virender Sehwag’s in-form Delhi Daredevils in “the lion’s den” on Monday. Fast bowler Brett Lee tweeted: “Feels great to be at the top of the table with momentum. Got 4 days till our next match, so a great chance to freshen up.”

Fellow Knight Iqbal Abdulla also hit the tweet spot. “Love these moments wen v r at ryt on top. Hope v keep d momentum going,” the spinner wrote.

Knight Riders fan Surja Surja Baladhikari (@SurjaB) summed up the feel-good mood thus: “Sitting with the newspaper and seeing KKR on top of the table. Finally hard work pays off..! Now the DLF IPL Cup is due.”

So does form and momentum make KKR the most favoured team to lift the cup?

The Daredevils have been more consistent so far, playing 11 matches for an equal number of victories as the Knights, who have played one more. Both need just one victory to be assured of a spot each in the play-offs, where the top two teams get an extra shot at the title.

Insiders say the Knights know they are on the threshold of a great opportunity and are “quietly confident”. For once, so are their fans.

Do you think KKR will win the cup? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com