XtraTime Web Desk: Kolkata Knight Riders” star batsman Eoin Morgan on Tuesday said the team is wary of the threat posed by Rajasthan Royals” rampaging top-order, marking Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson as the key men from the opposition ranks.
RR skipper Steve Smith has been reliable two half centuries, but it”s their No. 3 batsman Sanju Samson, who has grabbed the headlines this season with his sensational batting.
With Buttler also in the mix, KKR”s main target would be to stop the top-three, the reigning World Cup-winning England skipper said.
“The honest answer is that they are good players and you have to get them out. If they bat for 20 overs, you”re probably going to lose the game, particularly Buttler and Samson,” Morgan said in an interaction with www.kkr.in.
Rajasthan Royals have notched 200-plus scores in both their matches and against Kings XI Punjab, they chased down an IPL record target of 224.
“They obviously have a very well-drilled and experienced side. I suppose the challenges from our point of view, is to try and focus on our own game to start with.
“If we can produce a performance and improve on the game, I think then that will allow us to execute strategies and plans for Smith, Buttler and Samson to try and make inroads.
“Steve Smith obviously is in fine form. They”ve had some good success in the limited games that they”ve played. Hopefully, we can build on our game, and produce our first win in Dubai,” he said.
Morgan gave credit to their bowlers, especially Pat Cummins, who bounced back from his disastrous show against Mumbai Indians, to finish with tidy figures of 1/19.
“From the team”s perspective, I thought the bowlers bounced back beautifully from the first game. With ebb and flow throughout the tournament, I don”t think any side is going to go on unbeaten.
Talking about the battle against Jofra Archer, Maorgan said, “He”s a very difficult opponent to come up against. It”s not his batting we”ll be worried about. It will be his bowling.
“Hopefully, we can negate that, make plans, he”s played in the IPL now for a long time so guys know him better than they have done before. So again, we need to play well enough to try and implement plans,” Morgan said.