After registering a comprehensive 60-run victory over Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Eoin Morgan said that the side always wanted to play a free-flowing style of cricket.
Pat Cummins’ four-wicket haul and Eoin Morgan’s 68-run knock helped Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeat Rajasthan Royals by 60 runs here at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.
With this win, KKR has moved to the fourth spot in the points table with 14 points from 14 matches. On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals is now out from the playoff contention after losing the match against KKR.
“I thought it was around a par score. Every batsman who came back in said that it was a beautiful wicket with the dew in. We lost wickets between 10th and 15th overs, and to finish as we did was really good. We were out there to play a free-flowing style of cricket. That was the only way we were going to win. Especially with the dew factor expected anyways, irrespective of when it came,” said Morgan at the post-match presentation.
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For this match, KKR decided to bring in Andre Russell in place of Lockie Ferguson. Talking about this change, Morgan said: “Bringing out Dre Russ in, meant that it took the conditions out of the equation. We backed the guys to take a bit of risk even if it wasn’t there. That was one thing we talked about, leading into this game.”
Earlier, Eoin Morgan played an unbeaten knock of 68 runs as KKR posted a total of 191/7 in the allotted twenty overs. Rahul Tripathi and Shubman Gill also played useful knocks of 39 and 36 respectively. For Rajasthan Royals, Rahul Tewatia returned with the figures of 3-25 from his four overs.
“We felt that a hard length or a good length was the best spot to bowl. We tried to execute that in the first six overs and I thought Mavi was outstanding. Obviously Pat set the tone early on,” said Morgan.
“Winning the game was about taking wickets, especially early. RR are a side that are top-heavy and you need to get them early. Having that aggressive mindset was important for us. Yes, I was aware of the numbers (about net run rate) but you need to first get yourself into a winning position. I don’t think we could have done anything more today. So whatever happens from here is up to the gods,” he signed off.
