IPL: Eoin Morgan guides Kolkata Knight Riders to much-needed win over Punjab Kings
- 4 years ago
Eoin Morgan guided Kolkata Knight Riders to a much-needed victory over Punjab Kings in a low-scoring Indian Premier League contest in Ahmedabad.
The KKR skipper came in with his side 17-3 early on in their chase of 124 but was typically calm under pressure, putting on 66 with Rahul Tripathi (41 from 32 balls) as he batted through to the end, finishing unbeaten on 47 from 40 balls.
Kolkata's bowlers, led by Prasidh Krishna (3-30), had restricted Punjab to 123-9 and it took a quickfire 30 from 18 balls from Chris Jordan late on to get them there.
However, a five-wicket victory was sealed with 3.2 overs to spare and although it was not always as comfortable as that would suggest, especially for a Kolkata side aiming to end a four-match losing streak, Morgan's composed knock allowed KKR to avoid any nerve-shredding late drama.
Having been put into bat, Punjab's openers struggled to find any rhythm early on as the KKR seamers bowled with discipline and were eventually rewarded when KL Rahul (19) fell to Pat Cummins in the last over of the powerplay.
Morgan chose to keep the impressive Shivam Mavi (1-13) going straight through and the plan paid off in the fast bowler's fourth and final over when he had Chris Gayle caught behind for a golden duck.
Prasidh dismissed Deepak Hooda (1) in the next before Kolkata spinners Sunil Narine (2-22) and Varun Chakravarthy (1-24) took hold through the middle overs.
Punjab slumped to 98-8 early in the 19th over and it took three sixes from Jordan in what remained of the innings to get them anywhere close to a competitive total.
Source: Sky Sports
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