IPL 2020: Eoin Morgan disappointed after first assignment as KKR skipper ends in defeat

Abu Dhabi, October 16: Eoin Morgan was disappointed after his first assignment as Kolkata Knight Riders captain ended in an eight-wicket defeat to Mumbai Indians in Match 32 of IPL 2020 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Friday (October 16).

Opting to bat first, KKR were restricted to 148/5 in 20 overs and in response, MI chased down the target of 149 with three overs and eight wickets to spare.

After the match, Morgan, who replaced Dinesh Karthik as KKR skipper just hours before the match, admitted his team were totally outplayed by Mumbai Indians.

"We weren't even at the races today. We got a score to bowl at in the end, but the way Mumbai got off, it was tough to stop them," said Morgan after the match.

KKR were at one point reeling at 61/5 in the 11th over, but thanks to an unbeaten 87-run stand between Pat Cummins and Morgan the team put on a respectable total for MI to chase.

Karthik came in at No. 4 above Morgan in the batting order, but the former captain was dismissed by Rahul Chahar for just four runs. The rest of the top order also failed as Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Rana combined for just 45 runs.

Morgan, who scored an unbeaten 39 off 29 balls, says KKR have a lot of experience in the middle order, but with all of them getting out early it didn't help the team.

"We have a lot of experience in numbers four, five and six. Given the match-ups, we are trying to play our best hand there. Today it didn't make that much of a difference. We were all in early," said Morgan.

Morgan and co, who are fourth in the IPL 2020 standings, will look to bounce back when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in Abu Dhabi on Sunday (October 18).

(With Agency inputs)