Eoin Morgan was a pleased captain as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) registered a thumping five-wicket victory over Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Monday (April 26).
Opting to bowl first, KKR restricted PBKS to a below-par 123/9 in 20 overs. Prasidh Krishna (3-30), Sunil Narine (2-22) and Pat Cummins (2-31) did the bulk of the damage with the ball.
Chasing the target, Knight Riders rode on Morgan’s unbeaten 47 off 40 balls and Rahul Tripathi’s 32-ball 41 to get over the line with 20 balls to spare.
“Wins haven’t been easy to come by. Have worked incredibly hard. Nice to lead the team. We’ve worked incredibly hard, but didn’t perform as well as we would have liked initially. Today our performance was really, really impressive, especially from our bowlers and the way we started and kept the pressure throughout.
“On a wicket like that, in 12th or 13th over the ball continued to slide on and got better and better,” Morgan said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
The KKR skipper showered rich praise on Shivam Mavi, who claimed the prized scalp of Chris Gayle and conceded only 13 runs in his four overs.
“Mavi was only in his second game this season, and bowling four together is something we don’t do this often. His match-up against Gayle was favourable. He had started well last game so huge credit to him,” he said.
“The advantage we have over most spinners is we have variation spinners with drift and turn, and today they were exceptional.
“Still a lot of time to go in the tournament, we can’t take it for granted.”
Morgan also spoke about the second COVID-19 wave, which has caused an unprecedented health crisis in India.
“It’s challenging and things have to be managed for the players and staff, and we know the horrific nature of what’s happening outside the bubble. We try and lend our support and we’ve seen how devastating it is not only in India but around the world. If you’re going out stay safe, wear a mask, maintain social distance. We’ve seen huge amounts of tough times, even at home. On behalf of KKR we wish everyone well. We can stick together, we can beat this thing.”
Kolkata Knight Riders will take on Delhi Capitals in their next game on Thursday (April 29).
