We Weren't In The Race At All: Eoin Morgan After KKR's Crushing Loss Against MI

Eoin Morgan has started his captaincy stint with Kolkata Knight Riders with a crushing eight-wicket defeat at the hands of Mumbai Indians. The defeat was KKR’s fourth in eight games this season.

Batting first, the two-time IPL champions managed to score a modest total of 148 for 5 in the allotted 20 overs. They were off to a disastrous start as they lost their top-four batsmen for just 42 runs. 19 runs later, they suffered another blow when Andre Russell departed too.

At that stage, even the 100-run mark was looking like a distant dream for the Kolkata-based outfit. However, Pat Cummins and Eoin Morgan fought back and stitched together a fine unbeaten partnership of 87 runs to help their side put up a challenging total.

Cummins scored 53 off 36 balls with the help of 5 fours and two sixes. On the other hand, Morgan scored 39 off 29 balls with the help of two fours and as many sixes. But the score did not turn out to be enough in the end as Mumbai Indians chased it down inside 17 overs by losing only two wickets.

Quinton de Kock starred with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 78 off just 44 balls. He shared a 94-run stand for the first wicket with skipper Rohit Sharma (35) to all but seal KKR’s fate.

Eoin Morgan’s reaction:

Speaking at the end of the match, Eoin Morgan stated that his team was out of the race soon after suffering the setbacks early in their innings. He also defended the team-management’s decision of sending Dinesh Karthik ahead of himself.

“We weren’t in the race at all really, being four or five down. We got a score to bowl at in the end, but the way Mumbai got off, it is tough to stop them,” said Eoin Morgan.

“Nos 4, 5 and 6 is a lot of our experience [when asked about the reason behind sending Dinesh Karthik ahead of himself]. Given the match-ups, we are trying to play our best hand there. Today it didn’t make that much of a difference; we were all in early,” he added.

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