Following his team's six-wicket defeat at the hands of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Dubai on Thursday (October 29), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Eoin Morgan felt for his young pacer, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, who was under tremendous pressure to defend only 10 runs off the last over.
Nagarkoti did start off very well, giving away just three runs from the first three balls, but later, CSK's Ravindra Jadeja (31*) hit two back to back sixes to finish the match in his team's favour. Jadeja's fantastic 11-ball cameo and a brilliant 72 from Ruturaj Gaikwad took CSK past KKR's 172/5.
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"I think we played really well there, just on the wrong side of the toss. The dew from about the 8th over was really challenging. We improved on our batting (as compared to the previous games). Our bowlers absolutely gave it their everything. We have one game left, and still have a very little chance," Morgan said at the post-match presentation, as quoted by ANI.
Pat Cummins (2/31), Varun Chakravarthy (2/20) and Sunil Narine (0/23) were the pick of the KKR bowlers as they nearly sneaked through.
In the batting department, left-hander Nitish Rana (87) played a very fine knock and controlled the innings from his end while the rest chipped in.
"We felt we were right in the game (at the halfway stage). Nitish Rana kicked on and showed his class once again. It was actually a good day for us with the bat. They (Narine and Varun) are two fantastic spinners."
"I can't fault anyone's effort tonight. He (Nagarkoti) didn't have enough runs to defend. He's a young guy, he will take it on the chin and move forward. Looking forward to the next game against Royals," Morgan added.
At fifth in the points table with only 6 wins in 13 matches, KKR now must win their final league game on Sunday (November 1) against Rajasthan Royals (RR) if they are to have a chance of securing the playoff berth.
