Kolkata Knight Riders had a new captain today without much change of their winning luck. Eoin Morgan, England’s World Cup winning skipper was handed over the responsibility of KKR by Dinesh Karthik ahead of the match against Mumbai Indians.
Karthik was criticized for few decisions in previous KKR matches which is why the decision of leaving captaincy for IPL 2020 was applauded by one and all. Unfortunately, Morgan’s first match as KKR captain was against Mumbai Indians on Friday and the history repeated itself.
Mumbai Indians went on to improve their numbers against KKR as the latter once again faltered against the defending champions.
Batting collapse for KKR
Batting first, Kolkata Knight Riders started losing wickets frequently. Three overs into the game and their reliable oping batsman Rahul Tripathi was dismissed for only seven runs. He was followed by Nitish Rana (5) and KKR were 33/2 within the 6th over. The eighth over was a disaster for KKR as they lost two back-to-back wickets of Shubman Gill and Dinesh Karthik. Reportedly Karthik handed over the captaincy to Morgan to focus more on his batting. Former KKR captain may need more time to get back to best shape. Fortunately, KKR’s present captain took the charge and amid the downfall, went on to score an unbeaten 39 off 29 balls and found an able partner in Pat Cummins. Cummins scored 36-ball 53* which helped the Riders put a decent score on board.
MI’s bowlers dominate
Mumbai Indians bowlers, at present are dominating the Purple Cap table, thanks to their consistent good performances. Today Rahul Chahar was the highlight of MI bowling unit- precisely an over from him. He took two major KKR wickets in the 8th over and from there Kolkata Knight Riders had hardly any chance of fighting back as Morgan was the only designated batter left in the middle. Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, and Nathan-Coulter Nile took one wicket each and they eventually restricted KKR for just 148 runs. Bumrah once again delivered an economical spell and end the match with 4-0-22-1.
Quinton de Kock delivers again
It was another memorable outing for Mumbai Indians opening pair. A first wicket partnership of 94 runs in 10.4 overs set the tone of the run chase for Rohit Sharma’s side. Rohit Sharma, however had to leave for 35 runs as he was dismissed by Shivam Mavi in the 11th over of MI innings. The 27-year-old Quinton de Kock did not bother much with the same and continued his good show. He added an unbeaten 78 off 44 runs and once again won the match for Mumbai Indians. De Kock’s man-of-the-match performance saw him hitting nine fours and three maximums in the process. Hardik Pandya played a cameo (11-ball 21*) to seal the game in MI’s favor in 16.5 overs.