Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Eoin Morgan rued dropping catches after his team suffered a five-wicket defeat at the hands of Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Dubai on Friday (October 2).

However, Morgan felt Rahul Tripathi’s catch off KL Rahul in the penultimate over looked clean in real-time but the third umpire adjudged it not out.

Rahul played a gusty knock of 55-ball 67 while Sharukh Khan smashed 22 off 9 balls as PBKS chased down KKR’s target of 166 with three balls to spare.

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"Initially we didn't field as well, put catches down. Myself early too. We probably had a par score on the wicket. Kings played well, we fought back, but catches have cost us. I thought in real-time that the Tripathi catch was out," said Morgan during the post-match presentation ceremony.

"But when you slow it down, the third umpire decided otherwise. We got on with it once he made his call. Hopefully we play hard in the back end, get a few results and qualify into the playoffs," he added.

Knight Riders have 10 points from 12 games and they need to win both their remaining matches to secure a place in the playoffs.

The Eoin Morgan-led side will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their next game in Dubai on October 3, while their last league match is against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Sharjah on October 7.

(With ANI inputs)