IPL 2021: We weren’t good enough in all the departments – Eoin Morgan

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Eoin Morgan has admitted that his team was not good enough in all the departments of the game against Delhi Capitals at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Thursday.

KKR were asked to bat first by Rishabh Pant but they could only manage 155 runs on the board on a good surface.

KKR’s batting unit once again disappointed as they lost wickets at regular intervals. Shubman Gill, who hasn’t been in the best of forms, got off to a start as he scored 43 runs but he took 38 balls to score them. Furthermore, Eoin Morgan and Sunil Narine were dismissed without troubling the scorers in the same over by Lalit Yadav and it put the team on the backfoot.

Andre Russell was given a batting promotion to number six and the hard-hitter helped KKR get past the 150-run mark, which was well below the par score. Russell scored 45 from 27 balls but KKR couldn’t finish on a high.

On the other hand, KKR bowling was taken apart by Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan. Shaw gave a perfect start to his team as he scored six fours in the first over against Shivam Mavi. The right-hander completed his fifty off just 18 balls, which is the fastest of the ongoing season. Shaw timed the ball to perfection and he took the bowlers to the cleaners. Shaw and Dhawan added a fine opening alliance of 132 runs.

Morgan feels his team were not up to the mark with both as well as the ball as Delhi Capitals trounced them.

Morgan said in the post-match presentation, “Very disappointed. We were slow off the blocks with the bat, lost wickets in the middle period and Russell got us to 150-plus. Then got slow off the blocks with the ball. Shaw played brilliantly, nothing much we could do. Also shows how good the surface was. We weren’t good enough with all departments. He (Cummins) is part of our new ball plans. Mavi bowled four on the trot in the last game and bowled well. Just didn’t go to plan today. You need to be honest and realistic with everyone in the dressing room. We have to be as honest as we can with each other. Hopefully we can turn things around. There is a huge amount of talent in our squad but talent alone doesn’t get you far. It’s about execution”.

KKR have won only two matches out of the seven they have played and it is going to be a difficult road for them from here on. The Eoin Morgan-led team will next face RCB at the same venue on 3rd of May.