KKR vs CSK | Ravindra Jadeja's innings was the difference, says Eoin Morgan after Kolkata's 2-wicket defeat

After losing a last-ball thriller by two wickets against Chennai Super Kings, Eoin Morgan stated that both sides played well, but Jadeja's innings made the difference in the match. He further added that the second half of the tournament has been positive for the KKR, and the team would like to learn from the defeat to come up with an imporved performance in the next game.

"Both sides batted well. Both bowled really well. Can't fault anything from our side. The second half of the tournament has been a lot of positives for our side. We just have to give ourselves the best chance. [On Prasidh for the 19th over] Sunil takes the responsibility. I hope Dre is ok. The whole tournament has an abundance of top-class international cricketers. Some of the local Indian guys haven't even been capped yet. When Jadeja plays like that, similar to Sam Curran for England, I don't think there's a lot to do. [On holding back Varun Chakravarthy] All about matchups. Your bowlers need to bowl well enough to do that." said Eoin Morgan after the match

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won the toss and opted to bat first against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Sunday. Opening batsman Shubaman Gill (8) was dismissed early after a terrible mix-up with his opening partner Venkatesh Iyer (18). Rahul Tripathy stood solid with his 45 from 33 balls to boost the run rate in the middle overs. The likes of Nitish Rana, Andre Russel, and Dinesh Karthik accelerated the run rate in the death overs with their short cameos. Karthik smashed two fours and a six off Sam Curran in the 19th over and helped KKR reach a competitive total of 171/6.

In reply to KKR's 171-run, CSK looked confident as their openers Ruturaj Gaikwad (40) and Faf du Plessis (43) stitched up a 74-run partnership.  Varun Chakravarthy troubled the CSK batsmen in the middle overs but Moeen Ali (32) played a crucial role and took the Chennai-based franchise to 138/4 before his dismissal in the 17th over.

The 3-time champions were on cusp of a defeat after losing MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina in the 18th over. With 26 needed off 12 balls, the game swung in favor of the Yellow Army when Ravindra Jadeja (22) hit two sixes and two fours off Praisdh Krishna in the 19th over. Jadeja was dismissed by Sunil Narine with a ball to spare and scores of the two teams levelled. However, Deepak Chahar maintained his cool to hit the winning run off the final ball and claimed CSK's third consecutive victory in the UAE leg of IPL 2021. Jadeja was adjudged Man of the Match for his all-round performance.

Fourth placed KKR now have six wins from 10 matches and they face Delhi Capitals (DC) on Tuesday.