Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], May 22 (ANI): Following his side’s eight-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batting allrounder Venkatesh Iyer said that they were eager to go on the field and display their talent.
Venkatesh showcased a stunning performance in the Qualifier 1 match on Tuesday. He played an unbeaten 51-run knock from 28 balls at a strike rate of 182.14. He hammered 5 fours and 4 fours during his time on the crease.
Speaking after the match, Venkatesh said the pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium was really good. He also showered praise on the bowlers for dismissing the opponents for “160 odds”.
“More than the confidence I was really wanting to go out and bat, we last played a game on 11th, so we all were eager to go out and showcase our talent. The wicket was really good, credit goes to our bowlers for bowling them out for 160 odd,” Venkatesh said.
The batting allrounder said momentum is important, especially in a tournament like IPL.
“In a tournament like this, momentum is really important, we have seen that with RCB winning their matches continuously and gaining the momentum even we wanted that momentum, so we wanted to go out and wanted the rain to stop but it was disappointing,” he added.
He further added that playing in the IPL 2024 final is a “dreamy moment” for them. Venkatesh added that the Kolkata-based franchise have a “realistic chance” of winning the IPL 2024 season.
“It is always special for players like us to play in the IPL final, it’s a dreamy moment for us, going to Chennai and looking forward to it. We have a realistic chance to win the trophy now. We were raring to go out there, when you have the momentum you want to really go out there. You saw Rinku fielding in hotspots and taking those catches. It’s the excitement we have to go out there and perform,” he concluded.
Recapping the match, Sunrisers Hyderabad elected to bat first. After being reduced to 39/4 following an incredible powerplay spell by Mitchell Starc, a 62-run stand between Rahul Tripathi (55 in 35 balls, with seven fours and a six) and Heinrich Klaasen (32 in 21 balls, with three fours and a six) helped SRH cross the 100-run mark. But wickets kept falling for Sunrisers as bowlers were able to maintain pressure on KKR. A late cameo from skipper Mitchell Starc (30 in 24 balls, with two fours and two sixes) took SRH to a respectable 159 in 19.3 overs.
Starc was the pick of the bowlers for KKR, with a spell of 3/34 in four overs, once again making an impact during the big stages. Varun Chakravarthy also picked up 2/26 in four overs. Vaibhav Arora, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and Vaibhav Arora got a wicket each.
In the run-chase of 160 runs, a 44-run partnership between openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23 in 14 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and Sunil Narine (21 in 16 balls, with four boundaries) provided a fine platform to KKR. Attacking half-centuries from skipper Shreyas Iyer (58* in 24 balls, with five fours and four sixes) and Venkatesh Iyer (51* in 28 balls, with five fours and four sixes) made a mockery of SRH’s bowling and run-chase, winning the game by eight wickets with 38 balls to go.
With this win, KKR has earned a direct spot in the final, while SRH has one more shot at the title clash and will play in Qualifier two against the winner of the eliminator match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) taking place on Wednesday. (ANI)
