IPL 2021 | Lacked intent throughout, want guys to play free-flowing cricket, asserts Eoin MorganÂ
Gill and Rana made a snail-esque start
|IPL
Losing skipper Eoin Morgan conceded that his side lacked intent throughout their innings and going forward, he wants the batters to express themselves in the middle. He also added that the wicket didn't play flat and it was a tough ask to bat here and rued the lack of clarity in the set-up.
After giving a late scare to the Super Kings, a few nights ago, the Knight Riders were expected to come hard at the Royals on Saturday at the Wankhede. However, in what turned out to be a shambolic show, Kolkata started off really cautiously, and could merely add 25 in the field restrictions. From there on, they could never fight back in the game as they kept on struggling and just somehow managed to put 133 runs on board. It was never going to be enough as the Royals chased down the target with six wickets in hand.Â
After playing five games, no team has a poorer points tally as the Knight Riders, given they have won just one game and are lying at the bottom of the table. Reflecting on the horror show, Kolkata skipper Eoin Morgan emphasized that the team needs to express itself in the middle as they lacked intent throughout the game today. He also revealed that the pitch wasn't an easy one to bat and it kept on challenging the batters.
"The batting let us down. We lacked a lot of intent throughout the whole innings. We were behind the game right from the get-go. Didn’t put the bowlers under enough pressure. RR adapted to the pitch much better. We were probably 40 short which is a lot in a T20 game. The wicket today wasn’t as good as it has been here at the Wankhede and that was a challenge in itself. Every time we tried taking an attacking option, we lost a wicket," Morgan stated in the post-match presentation.Â
"Left us a lot to do at the back end, which we didn’t obviously do. Clearer the mind, the easier it is (to play with intent). We want guys to play free-flowing cricket. It wasn’t there today unfortunately," he said.Â
Kolkata will now take on Punjab on April 26 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
