Kolkata Knight Riders made light work of Mumbai Indians as they registered an emphatic 7-wicket victory to be placed fourth on the IPL 2021 points table. KKR opener Venkatesh Iyer scored a fluent 53 off 30 balls as he hit a potent MI bowling unit all over the park at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. He was ably supported by right-handed batsman Rahul Tripathi, who remained unbeaten on 74 off 42 balls.

Talking about his team’s performance, captain Eoin Morgan said that this is how their coach, Brendon McCullum, wants them to play.

“It’s been a long time coming. Since Baz (McCullum) has taken over last year, the way we have played in the last two games is the way our coach wants us to play. It suits our talent to play this way,” Morgan said during the post-match ceremony.

Being such a formidable side, Mumbai Indians often give the other franchises a run for their money and Morgan believes that “to hold such a strong Mumbai Indians side to 155 and chase this down gives us confidence.”

Iyer has been a revelation for the Kolkata-based franchise. In his debut match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, he remained unbeaten on 41 off 27 balls as he guided the team to a solid 9-wicket victory.

He continued his form in the second match as he clobbered the likes of Adam Milne, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar and Jasprit Bumrah with ease.

“Fitting Venkatesh Iyer into our XI has been difficult with a lot of talented guys, and it’s fantastic the way he’s scored his runs. In the practice games, too, he has gone on to play this way,” the English international said.

The bowlers, too, did a pretty good job of reining in the Mumbai Indians batsman, especially the spinners.

“Sunil and Chakravarthy are two formidable bowlers. Sunil has been integral to KKR winning when they’ve done. Varun is the fresh guy,” the left-handed captain said.

Sunil Narine was adjudged the player of the match for his figures of 1/20 in four overs at an economy rate of 5. Other KKR bowlers Prasidh Krishna and Lockie Ferguson returned with figures of 2/43 and 2/27, respectively.

KKR started the second-leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in the seventh position. However, two dominant victories saw them burst into the top four of the league.

And Morgan believes that “the first two games in this phase has been the template for us to play. There’s only one way for us to go in the points table.”

KKR will next play the Chennai Super Kings on September 26. The match starts at 15.30pm IST.