IPL 2021: 'Nitish, Tripathi were outstanding,' says Morgan after KKR's 10-run win over SRH

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Eoin Morgan heaped praise on Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi, saying the duo was "outstanding" after their 10-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 on Sunday.

Despite Manish Pandey's unbeaten 61, SRH failed to chase down KKR's target of 188 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

SRH skipper David Warner won the toss on Sunday and put KKR to bat. Shubman Gill and Rana put up a 50-run stand for the first wicket. After Gill's dismissal in the seventh over, Tripathi walked in to bat. Rana and Tripathi shared a 93-run partnership and set up the platform for the other batsmen. KKR's key batsmen Andre Russell and Morgan failed to contribute much with the bat on Sunday as they got out for 5 and 2 respectively. A cameo from Dinesh Karthik at the end took KKR to 187 for 6 in 20 overs.

In a post-match interview, Morgan said that he was delighted to commence their IPL 2021 campaign with a win.

"The camp that we had pre-tournament, the guys gelled well. Never quite sure what performance they will produce. Today was quite magnificent the way the guys batted. Guys at the top of the order. Nitish and Tripathi were absolutely outstanding and set up the game for our middle order to play in the manner we want to play. Certainly, the bowling, we couldn't have asked for a better start. Chopped and changed a bit in the powerplay.

A huge amount of structure goes into the decisions on the field. We have got a fantastic head coach in McCullum and great backroom staff. Our main job is to get the best out of the squad. IPL is all about the results. Guys buying into what we want to do. Bhajji starting really well in the first over and then not playing a part but using his experience to get around the guys in the game shows the selflessness in the side. Nice to start like this it's obviously a long tournament. We were very happy with the score. We thought if we bowled half-decently, we should get over the line," added Morgan after KKR's 10-run victory on Sunday.

For scoring 80 off 56, Rana was named the player of the match. "I thought the ball was in my slot so I went for it and luckily got four off my first ball. In my mind there's only one thing: play my shots if the ball is there. I just backed myself. Have played a lot of spin growing up," said Rana after the game.

Morgan's KKR have just a day's break as they return to action on Tuesday (April 13). It is a big game for the Men in Purple as they take on five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in Chennai. On the other hand, SRH have a break for two days before their fixture against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Wednesday.