IPL 2021: KKR win toss, opt to bowl against Punjab Kings
Apr 26, 2021
Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], April 26 : Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to bowl against Punjab Kings in their Indian Premier League encounter here at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Monday.
At the time of toss, Morgan said: "We're going to bowl first. Excellent ground and good outfield, seems a good surface. We're going with the same team. We're looking to make a big step forward today. We believe in the guys within the squad and the playing XI. Moving forward, we'll see a lot more depth from our squad. I think there is the only way to go (from here). Getting on a losing streak can hurt a bit. We have the opportunity to turn it around and we know it can change quickly."
On the other hand, Punjab Kings captain KL Rahul said, "It's a new venue and new pitch, important we get off to a good start. That (crowd) would have been lovely but it's important that our country fights back from this. Games like that (win over MI) helps us a lot, difficult wicket to chase and glad that me and Chris could finish it off. Such wins bring the group together. He (Gayle) keeps things light in the dressing room."
KKR is at the bottom of the table with four defeats in their five games of the season while Punjab is at fifth spot with two wins in five matches.
Punjab crushed Mumbai Indians in their last game as they registered a nine-wicket win while the Morgan-led side has lost the last four games.
Teams: Punjab Kings: KL Rahul(w/c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Moises Henriques, Shahrukh Khan, Chris Jordan, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy.
