After thrashing Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 60 runs in Dubai on Sunday (November 1), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Eoin Morgan said his team always wanted to play a free-flowing style of cricket.
Asked to bat first, KKR piled up a massive 191/7 in 20 overs on the back of skipper Eoin Morgan’s brutal 35-ball 68* and notable contributions from Rahul Tripathi (39), Shubman Gill (34) and Andre Russell (25 off 11 balls).
Defending the total, Pat Cummins (4-34) ran through the opposition batting line-up as KKR restricted RR to 131/9.
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With this thumping victory, KKR leapfrogged to the fourth spot in the points table and kept their play-off hopes alive while Royals got knocked out of the tournament.
"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 ceremony.
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."
Besides Cummins, Shivam Mavi (2-15), Varun Chakravarthy (2-20) and Kamlesh Nagarkoti (1-24) also did a great job with the ball for KKR.
"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 concluded.
