Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Eoin Morgan was pleased with the performance of his batting unit during their 10-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Sunday (April 11).
Asked to bat first, KKR piled up 187/6 on the board, courtesy Nitish Rana’s 56-ball 80 and Rahul Tripathi’s 29-ball 53. Dinesh Karthik also played a brilliant cameo of 22* in 9 deliveries.
WATCH: Shubman Gill’s no-look six off T Natarajan
In reply, Sunrisers managed 177/5 in 20 overs despite half-centuries from Manish Pandey (61* off 44 balls) and Jonny Bairstow (55 off 40 balls).
"One of the many strengths we have within our squad is two of the most talented guys in the country opening the batting for us," Morgan said at the post-match virtual media conference, referring to Rana and Shubman Gill.
"Tripathi today at No. 3 played beautifully, and the middle-order we have is extremely versatile. When Dinesh plays like that or Andre plays the game he can play, you're going to see a very destructive batting unit that has potential to win you matches," he added.
Morgan had special praise reserved for Rana, who batted excellently at the top, days after recovering from COVID-19 scare.
"I'm delighted for Nitish obviously a match-winning innings today. The thing that impressed me the most about his innings was the method that he used.
"He played really aggressively and always took a positive option, which really did set up our batting innings."
Commenting on Karthik, who batted at No. 6, Morgan said the ex-skipper is happy with the role given to him.
"Dinesh is happy with where he is at the moment. Obviously we're in regular conversation with him being the vice-captain and me being captain."
All-rounder Andre Russell (5 off 5 balls) might have failed with the bat against SRH, but he bowled brilliantly at the death and defended 22 runs in the last over.
"I'm delighted. Andre has been a big part of the franchise for a long time now," Morgan said.
"Obviously, when you are a player of that talent and ability, you can offer so much at any stage, and today he did that. Bowling at the death is not an easy job to do, and he managed to get us over the line."
Despite his impressive first over, veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh didn’t bowl and Morgan defended his decision, stating that it had a lot to do with matchups.
"It's more to do with matchups. There's a lot of preparation that goes into the analysing of the opposition team, and him bowling the first over of the game was a decision based on that," he said.
"He created a great opportunity. Unfortunately the catch was dropped. And the role that he played from then on, obviously using his experience to speak to other players, was outstanding.
"Since he's arrived in the camp, he's had more energy than anybody have seen within the squad so fantastic. Hopefully he can continue doing that."
Kolkata Knight Riders will take on defending champions Mumbai Indians in their next game on Tuesday (April 13) at Chepauk.
(With PTI inputs)
