IPL 2020 | Wouldn’t call it perfect victory but a great game with a lot of improvement, admits Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik expressed his happiness over victory against Rajasthan Royals
|Despite the massive victory, Dinesh Karthik refused to accept that it was a perfect game, adding that the Knight Riders are getting it right one at a time against Rajasthan Royals. He also credited Andre Russell, Eoin Morgan and Shubman Gill’s batting performance for getting them to a good total.
After a scintillating win against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders walked into this contest to make it two-in-a-row and get their season back on steadfast track. However, the toss did not go according to plans, as Steve Smith won the toss and sent the Knight Riders to bat first. Despite that, the Knight Riders, on the back of their talented opener Shubman Gill, got themselves off to a decent start before the finishers such as Eoin Morgan and Andre Russell just heaped more troubles to the Royals bowling unit.
Eventually, it got them to a high-scoring total of 174 for the loss of just six wickets. In reply, the Royals were lost in the nest of Sharjah, where the grounds were awfully small, unable to adjust themselves to changing conditions. For KKR, however, their sowed trust in Kamlesh Nagarkkoti and Shivam Mavi bore fruits, with the duo picking up four wickets. Alongside the inspired bowling from Varun Chakravarthy, the two-time IPL champions got themselves an easy win over the Royals.Â
Following the game, Dinesh Karthik still reckoned that there were a lot of areas that the Knight Riders could improve on despite the 37-run victory. Karthik also praised Jofra Archer’s bowling efforts, admitting that it was tough to bat on the wicket.Â
“I wouldn't call it perfect. There was a lot of areas we could improve. It was a good game. A lot of things pleased me - the way Gill started, the way Russell started, the way Morgan kept his head. The beautiful sight of the youngsters going for the catch no matter high it is. I think Archer bowled some good areas. Couple of guys made the pitch look better than it was,” he said at the post-match presentation.Â
At the same time, Karthik was quick to praise the young bowling duo of Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkkoti, who picked up four wickets in between them, playing for the second time together after being picked up in the 2018 IPL Auctions.Â
“It's a very special thing - these boys, the journey they've gone through when not playing, and for them to just come out and express themselves with the ball and ball was incredible. We would have batted first, that was our plan. To put runs on the board was what we thought was the way forward on this ground,” he concluded.
