Eoin Morgan Credits His Teams' 'Free-Flowing' Style Of Cricket Following KKR's Win Over RR

Eoin Morgan, Kolkata Knight Riders captain, credited his batting unit’s ‘free-flowing’ style of cricket, something that eventually paved way for a clinical 60-run victory for the Knight Riders against the Rajasthan Royals in Dubai on Sunday.

On what Eoin Morgan described as a ‘beautiful wicket’ and the presence of heavy dew, Kolkata Knight Riders came back brilliantly after a middle-order wobble thanks to their skipper’s whirlwind knock of 35-ball 68- an innings which included five fours and six sixes- to post a ‘par’ total of 191.

”I thought it was around a par score. Every batsman who came back in and said that it was a beautiful wicket with the dew in. We lost wickets between 10th and 15th overs, and to finish like we did was really good. We were out there to be play a free-flowing style of cricket. That was the only way we were going to win. Especially with the dew factor expected anyways, irrespective of when it came. Bringing out Dre Russ in meant that it took the conditions out of the equation,” Eoin Morgan said in the post-match presentation.

‘We felt that a hard length or a good length was the best spot to bowl’- Eoin Morgan

On a ground that was significantly wet due to dew and against such a power-packed batting-unit of the Royals, taking early wickets was the order of the day. And, that is exactly what Eoin Morgan and his team had planned- to go hard with the new ball.

Pat Cummins had a horrible start to his spell as he gave away 19 runs in his first five balls but the Australian speedster came back brilliantly to effectively kill the run-chase by claiming four wickets- Robin Uthappa, Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, and Riyan Parag- in the powerplay. Eoin Morgan concluded by saying that having an aggressive mindset was pretty crucial for them, and it worked in the end.

”We backed the guys to take a bit of risk even if it wasn’t there. That was one thing we talked about, leading into this game. We felt that 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 was outstanding. Obviously Pat set the tone early on. 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,” Eoin Morgan signed off.

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