IPL 2021: Not being bold enough in last 10 overs cost KKR the match - Eoin Morgan

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Eoin Morgan said that a lack of bold batting cost them the IPL 2021 match against Mumbai Indians (MI). KKR ended up falling short against MI by 10 runs in a game they looked likely to win. Morgan also said that chasing at Chennai was difficult, something backed up by stats. Out of the three matches played here, teams batting second have lost twice. Only Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) won while chasing in the tournament opener. And that game also went down to the wire, with RCB winning thanks largely to AB de Villiers’ genius.

“We needed to bat around and complete the chase. The games that have been played here, it would suggest that there is a trend [of scoring getting tough towards the end of the match] in the games that have been played so far, barring AB de Villiers in the chase,” said Morgan after the match.

“Mumbai have been performing like this for a long time. That would be something we need to assess. Made a few mistakes, will need to sort it out. A perfect game needs to be bold, it came to cost us in the last 10 overs of the game,” added Morgan.

“It is disappointing [to lose]. Played some good cricket for most part of the game. We looked comfortable in the chase. But they are a strong team, came back well and sad that it didn’t work out for us.”

An absolute thriller of a game here at The Chepauk. @mipaltan win by 10 runs to register their first win of #VIVOIPL 2021 season.

Scorecard – https://t.co/CIOV3NuFXY #KKRvMI #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/PJzQL2HPbJ

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 13, 2021

Chasing a target of 153, KKR were 122-4 in the 15th over and were on course for a win. However, the last five fetched only 20 runs as they stunningy fell short of the target. Thus, this gave the defending champions their first win of the IPL 2021.

Krunal Pandya (1/13 in 4 overs) and Chahar (4/27 in 4 overs) helped Mumbai claw back into the game after a 72-run opening stand between Nitish Rana (57 off 47 balls) and Shubman Gill (33 off 24 balls).

Then it was Jasprit Bumrah (0/28) and Trent Boult (2/27) who stemmed the flow of runs at the death and kept both Andre Russell and Dinesh Karthik quiet.