A clinical performance by the Kolkata Knight Riders in their penultimate match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad helped them register a comprehensive six-wicket win at the Dubai International Stadium.
After being asked to bowl first, the bowling unit of the Knight Riders picked up wickets at regular intervals to dent the opposition in this crucial encounter.
While Tim Southee, Shivam Mavi and Varun Chakaravarthy picked up two wickets each, the turning point of the match was the economical spell by Sunil Narine. In his quota of four overs, the 33-year old conceded 12 runs to help the boys in Purple and Gold restrict the Sunrisers for a modest total of 115/8 in the first innings.
In the post-match conference, skipper Eoin Morgan heaped praises on the impact of the mystery spinners in the team by saying, "Absolutely, I think two big impact players for us in any condition. Two mystery spin bowlers, I think we are very lucky to have them, particularly Sunil Narine, who has been a huge part of this franchise now for a very long time and an integral part of KKR's success."
"I think game on game basis; you look at where they can have the biggest impact in the game and then try and get them in that position in the game. I think today is a good example of that, and we are fortunate enough that the other guys within the bowling unit bowled extremely well, and that allowed us to juggle things around a little bit, " he further added.
A commanding performance with the ball set the game up for the Knight Riders in this high-voltage clash. Chasing 116 runs, Shubman Gill produced a masterclass as he anchored the innings with a sublime half-century (57) to guide the Knight Riders over the line.
"I am delighted for Shubman; he has shown a huge amount of promise in all formats of the game and, probably over the last two IPLs, has continued to show promise. On a tricky wicket today, he made things look very easy, and his true class shown through, which is great to see. It will give him a lot of confidence, and obviously, at the top of the order with the form that Venkatesh Iyer has been in, gives us another element along with Rahul Tripathi. They've been a huge positive for us in the second phase of the tournament," he concluded.
