England Captain Eoin Morgan guided his Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to a five-wicket Indian Premier League (IPL) defeat of Punjab Kings in Ahmedabad on Monday.
Chasing 124 to win, Kolkata found themselves 17 for three before Morgan added 66 with Rahul Tripathi.
Though Tripathi fell for 41, Morgan was unbeaten on 47 when Kolkata completed victory with 3.2 overs to spare.
Punjab had been restricted to 123 for nine by an excellent Kolkata bowling display, Prasidh Krishna taking three for 30.
The win gives Kolkata only their second victory in six games and lifts them from bottom of the table to fifth.
It also represents a return to form for Morgan, whose previous highest score in this year’s tournament was 29 after a winter where he struggled to make an impact with the bat for England.
Kolkata’s fine bowling also included two for 31 from Australia paceman Pat Cummins. Punjab included England’s Chris Jordan for the first time this season, with the Sussex man returning 0-24 from three overs.
He was introduced after Punjab made early inroads, including Ravi Bishnoi taking a superb diving catch at deep mid-wicket to remove Sunil Narine.
But Morgan, in his 40-ball stay, steadied the chase in the company of Tripathi. Though Tripathi was caught at long-on and Andre Russell was run out, Morgan was joined by Dinesh Karthik to seal the win.
Chief scores
Punjab Kings: 123/9 in 20 overs (Mayank Agarwal 31, Prasidh Krishna 3/30)
Kolkata Knight Riders: 126/5 in 20 overs (Eoin Morgan 47 n.o, Rahul Tripathi 41).
(BBC)
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