The wicket is one thing but you need to adapt to conditions – Eoin Morgan after SRH victory

Bowlers did a fantastic job and a cameo of 57 by Shubman Gill took Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) across the finishing line against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Match 49 of the VIVO Indian Premier League in Dubai on Sunday.

Bowlers did a fine job to restrict SRH on a low-scoring total while Shubman Gill played a match-winning knock of 57 to give KKR two more points against SRH in Match 49 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Dubai on Sunday.

After restricting SRH to 115/8 in 20 overs, KKR chased down the target in 19.4 overs to seal their sixth victory of the league.

Shubman Gill, Player of the Match (KKR): 

“It was important to keep wickets in hand early. And then to go for it when the runs got closer. You see the wicket and then you choose your match-up. To hit spinners on this surface isn’t easy. I was targeting the shorter side mostly. I didn’t have many runs under my belt…So the batsman needs to try and take the game home. When you play in North India, wickets are not as bouncy. You play with the wrists a lot. So I use them a lot. Umran Malik was definitely quick.”

Winning captain Eoin Morgan (KKR): 

“Yes the chase was tricky. I thought it was sluggish if anything. The wicket is one thing but you need to adapt to conditions – bowl well, field well. We did that well, a vast improvement from two days ago…Having missed out on playoffs last year, we knew our squad is reasonable. We are focused on playing good cricket. We’ve played good cricket – attitude, implementation of the game plan.”

Dinesh Karthik (18* off 12) (KKR): 

“Very happy. We knew the chase would be slightly tricky. We were at a stage when I could play my shots when I walked in. It was good that Rana did not try to match Gill shot by shot. Fingers crossed.”

Kane Williamson, losing captain (SRH): 

“(Par score) Around 150. It was tough work bowling defending a low total. We’ve been working hard and it just hasn’t been paying off. When we got to the last 3-4 overs with the bat, we wanted to have a crack and get 150. Hindsight is beautiful, honestly, we wish we had some partnerships. That’s part and parcel of the game – trying to identify what a competitive total will be. We’ve been facing Malik in the nets – he’s special, lots of pace. Young guy runs in and goes hard.”

Brief Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 119/4 (Shubman Gill 57, Nitish Rana 25; Jason Holder 2/32) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 115/8 (Kane Williamson 26, Priyam Garg 21; Varun Chakravarthy 2/26) by 6 wickets. 

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