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South African Captain Quinton de Kock scored a brilliant 78 undefeated on Friday as Indian Premier League champion Mumbai Indians inflicted a crushing defeat on his England counterpart Eoin Morgan in his first game leading Kolkata Knight Riders.
SCORECARD | Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders
Morgan, who took over after Dinesh Karthik resigned hours before the game, won the draw but nothing more.
He saw his batsmen and bowlers beaten by Mumbai, whose eight-wicket win – a fifth win in a row – put them level with Delhi Capitals at the top of the IPL rankings.
De Kock hit three sixes and nine fours in a 44-ball demolition of the Kolkata bowlers, while Mumbai made 149-2 in just 16.5 overs to outscore rivals 148-5 in 20 overs.
Ironically, Kock’s goalkeeper dropped Pat Cummins in Kolkata’s penultimate inning.
Cummins and Morgan connected 35 runs with the last 12 balls to give the score a look of respectability.
The Cummins fast launcher reached its first half century T20.
His 53 included two sixes and five fours. Morgan had 39, with two sixes and one four on the last six balls.
It only partially made up for a disastrous performance by Kolkata’s best hitters.
The Australia-England partnership joined their team in deep trouble at 61-5.
Despite his careers, Morgan knows he faces a difficult task to bring Kolkata back to life.
Cummins is the most expensive foreigner in the league with a $ 2.8 million contract, but he has only taken two wickets in eight games and awarded another 28 runs to Mumbai.
Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma (35) and De Kock broke the goal from the first ball, which Sharma hit with four. The pair put 94 for the first wicket.
Sharma said she was happy to take a “back seat” and set De Kock “free.”
“He likes to take it to the bowlers,” said the India starter.
“It gives us a lot of confidence,” Sharma said of the win. “Clinic with the ball, clinic with the bat, the overall performance we expected was there.”
Sharma said that after a six-month pandemic strike, the entire team was “very hungry and they want to prove a point.”
The IPL has moved to the United Arab Emirates due to the coronavirus crisis.
Dehli Capitals have a chance to claim first place only when they face Chennai Super Kings in one of two games on Saturday.
