Ahmedabad: Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Eoin Morgan is hoping that their clinical victory against Punjab Kings would provide them the much-needed momentum in the Indian Premier League.
They are a strong unit on paper but KKR lost four matches on the trot after securing a win against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The bowlers helped them break the losing string by restricting Punjab to 123 for nine as the side eventually claimed a five-wicket win on Monday.
"Now with this win, hopefully, it's the start of something," Morgan said during a virtual media conference.
"Up until now, the team has gone through really tough times. We have had a really slow start to the tournament, and we haven't had that little bit of luck that you need."
Morgan was lavish in his praise for the bowling unit as Prasidh Krishna (3/30), Pat Cummins (2/31) and Sunil Narine (2/22) choked Punjab after the young Shivam Mavi (1/13) impressed most with the new ball, bowling 15 dots.
"The performance tonight epitomised how the group wants to play. With the ball, especially, we displayed how we want to go about our business. That is a really encouraging thing."
Their top-order batting, however, remains a worry as they were 17/3 inside three overs before Morgan and Rahul Tripathi (41 off 32) scripted the revival.
Talented opener Shubman Gill (nine) continued his woeful run and was trapped LBW by Mohammed Shami as Morgan stressed upon the need to build on the performance.
"We can't change anything that has already happened. Building on tonight's performance will be important for us."
"One thing that we did really well today was combine our bowling, fielding and batting to have a comprehensive win. Until now, probably from the first match, we haven't managed to do that."
Morgan further praised the team management for giving them their full support after their string of four losses.
"We are extremely proud of the franchise. It is one of the reasons why we have been so successful over the course of the IPL. Having that backing certainly helps. It is nice to be able to reward them," he said.
Punjab pace all-rounder Chris Jordan, who produced a 30-run cameo to boost their total, rued lack of enough runs as they suffered their fourth loss from six matches.
"We did well enough to put a little bit of pressure back on KKR. We tried to take the game as close as possible. But we didn't have enough runs and that's possibly what cost us the game in the end," Jordan said.
Punjab, who will play three more matches here, next take on Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday and Jordan said the dew would be a factor.
"Obviously it's a little bit challenging (bowling with dew) but it's nothing that we weren't expecting, we've been doing a lot of work (bowling with the wet ball) in training. We have to try and figure out what's the best plan to use when bowling with the wet ball."
"Obviously playing in India is always a challenge, some wickets can be slow, some wickets can be quite quick as well. It's all part of the challenge of being a professional cricketer and also you must have experience so you can try and adapt the conditions as best as possible."
The loss however has not dampened the mood of the KL Rahul-led side.
"We will look to come up with the answers. The mood in the camp at the moment is upbeat. We will take one game at a time," he signed off.
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