Riding on the back of a brilliant performance with the bat by captain Eoin Morgan, the Kolkata bowlers, especially Pat Cummins made tremendous inroads into the Rajasthan batting line-up to finally deplete it and win the game for their team by a huge and much-required margin of 60 runs.
Although this win did not guarantee the Morgan led team a place in the Playoffs, it at least gave them a more than good enough chance to reach there eventually, as their run rate is now improved. This loss in Dubai, however, put an end to Rajasthan Royals’ start-stop campaign, which had got some momentum in the last two games.
Reacting to the victory, KKR captain Eoin Morgan said that the score of 192 seemed only par to him, as the wicket seemed nice to bat on. “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,” he said.
Even after losing quick wickets in between 10th and 15th overs, Morgan acknowledged that the way they finished was only because they had planned for taking risks. “We were out there to play a free-flowing style of cricket. That was the only way we were going to win,” said Morgan.
The Englishman further said that playing Andre Russell in place of Lockie Ferguson was mainly an idea to negate conditions and bring in a player who could take the risks in the middle. “Bringing out Dre Russ 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,” he said.
Talking about the length that his bowlers were supposed to bowl, Morgan said that they felt 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 [Shivam] was outstanding. Obviously, Pat set the tone early on,” the 33-year-old added.
Morgan further revealed that he and his team were clear in the head that they had to take quick wickets to give themselves any chance. “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,” he said.
Acknowledging that he was aware of the Net Run Rate and the fact that he needed to win big, the KKR skipper said, “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.”
Speaking from the past record, Rajasthan Royals were in with a chance to chase this down. However, being unable to execute the chase, captain Steve Smith blamed it on the batters saying that losing four wickets in the powerplay was a jolt the team could never recover from. “We thought 180 was par. But losing four in the first four didn't help,” he said.
Crediting fellow Aussie Pat Cummins for bowling brilliantly as he picked four wickets, Smith said, “He bowled nice lengths and made us play big shots. Unfortunately, we are at the wrong end of the result.”
Reflecting back on the season, the 31-year-old former Australian captain was of the view that his team’s middle phase in the tournament wasn’t really up to the mark and they lost one game too many. The New South Wales born also cited positives for the RR side from this season.
“We started well with two wins, we won two before this one but we were inconsistent in the middle. We didn't take enough responsibility. A couple of positives for us, Jofra [Archer] have played exceptionally well for us. [Rahul] Tewatia pulled a few out of the hat for us, bowled exceptionally well through the tournament as well,” he said.
Smith concluded by saying that they should have won a few more and also hoped that his team were able to bring out a few smiles in such times as the pandemic. “You need to win those you should win. The BCCI and everyone involved to get this tournament up and running have done a fantastic job. Hope we were able to put few smiles on people's faces, especially in India where it's been tough,” he said.
The experts praised Kolkata and their captain Morgan for taking that leap of faith after two very ordinary performances. They were also seen calculating the scenarios in which the last three teams for the Playoffs could be decided as even after 54 games, only Mumbai Indians have qualified so far.
Veteran Journalist Ayaz Memon praised the Kolkata team for giving it their all and called Eoin Morgan the real hero for inspiring his troops by setting the example himself.
Senior cricket analyst Boria Majumdar was seen calculating the scenarios in which Kolkata Knight Riders could make it to the Playoffs, after he wished Shahrukh Khan, the Bollywood actor and KKR owner on his birthday, saying that KKR have given him a huge gift in the form of this win.
Harsha Bhogle, the world-renowned commentator and a wily old analyst of the game praised the leg spinners for their showing in the entire tournament. In particular, he talked about the brilliance of the unnoticed or the under noticed- Rahul Chahar and Murugan Ashwin.
Former cricketer turned cricket Pundit, Aakash Chopra lauded big game players Eoin Morgan and Pat Cummins for putting their hands up and performing the way they did.
Gaurav Kalra, a cricket journalist in general and humorist in particular was fazed by the fact that all the games in the last weekend of the IPL have been one-sided, despite the points table showing such close competition.
As Morgan said that there is nothing KKR could have done better than what they did, and now would hope that either the game between Delhi Capitals and RCB gets one-sided or Mumbai Indians beat Sunrisers Hyderabad.
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