IPL 2021: ‘What a hell of a game of cricket,’ says KKR captain Eoin Morgan after losing thriller against CSK

There was a stage when Kolkata Knight Riders were reeling at 31/5 in a 221-run chase. But after a blitzkrieg from Andre Russell, who smashed 54 runs in 22 balls, Dinesh Karthik’s cameo, who struck 40 runs in 24 balls, and heroic innings from Pat Cummins, who hammered an unbeaten 66 runs, KKR managed to take the game closer than anyone anticipated.

The thriller ended with Kolkata getting bundled out for 202, losing the match by 18 runs. But with a potential comeback like this, KKR managed to win the hearts.

Also read: Faf du Plessis, Deepak Chahar shine in CSK’s smooth win over KKR

Speaking after the match, KKR captain Eoin Morgan expressed awe about the spectacle he had just witnessed.

“It’s (pulse) quite high at the moment. What a hell of a game of cricket. Certainly from the position we were in after our powerplay, we probably didn’t think we’d get as close as we did,” Morgan said.

“But Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik really did put a partnership together, once you do that taking advantage of the conditions here, it’s very difficult to stop. A partnership going in that manner and then following that Pat Cummins the way he played really gave us every chance towards the end. Tremendous fight from our middle and lower order which is all you can ask for when you lose wickets upfront like that,” he added.

“The first five overs of our batting didn’t go our way. We didn’t play as well as would have liked. If we had built a partnership and taken advantage of those early overs going into those middle overs, we would have been in a really strong position,” he signed off.