Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Rajasthan Royals by 37 runs in IPL 2020 in Dubai.
Put in to bat first after losing the toss, KKR scored 174/6 in their allotted 20 overs, with rising young opener Shubman Gill (47) and middle-order stalwart Eoin Morgan (34*) contributing majorly.
Read Also: Cricket fraternity reacts as Mavi & Nagarkoti’s heroics give KKR a big win over RR
In the second half, exciting pacers Kamlesh Nagarkoti (2/13) and Shivam Mavi (2/20) dominated the proceedings along with attack leader Pat Cummins (1/13) and spinner Varun Chakravarthy (2/25) as RR managed only 137/9 in response.
RR's ace quick Jofra Archer (2/18) and to an extent, lower-order batter Tom Curran (54*) were their only bright spots on the night where they were actually considered favourites after having won the two previous games of the competition.
Despite the victory, however, the feeling that KKR perhaps didn't score as many as they would've liked still lingered, as their promotion of big-hitting Andre Russell (24) didn't bear the aspired results and skipper himself (1) continued his unsatisfactory run with the bat.
Probably this was why Karthik urged his team to keep building those blocks rather than feel overly pleased with the win.
"I wouldn't call it perfect (win). There was a lot of areas we could improve. It was a good game. A lot of things pleased me - the way Gill started, the way Russell started, the way Morgan kept his head. The beautiful sight of the youngsters going for the catch no matter high it is," Karthik said during the post-match presentation ceremony via host broadcaster Star Sports.
"I think Archer bowled some good areas. Couple of guys made the pitch look better than it was. It's a very special thing - these boys (Nagarkoti, Mavi), the journey they've gone through when not playing, and for them to just come out and express themselves with the bat and ball was incredible," he added.
Having recovered from the opening loss to defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) with two successive victories, including also the one versus Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), KKR next play Delhi Capitals (DC) in Sharjah on Saturday (October 3).
(Inputs from ANI)