After his side’s victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batsman Venkatesh Iyer praised all-rounder Sunil Narine for taking pressure off batters with his explosive knock in the power play. Veteran West Indies star Narine made his 500th T20 appearance unforgettable for himself and KKR as he dazzled with an all-round show to help his side secure a dominant seven-wicket win over RCB at the Chinnnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
During the match, Venkatesh smashed a half-century but it looked like he had injured his back during the knock while playing a shot.
“Let’s see how my back is doing. I know after a scan. The ball arrived well in the evening. The credit goes to Sunil Narine, whose runs took the pressure off us. We just had to complete the formalities .With a platform like that you have to maximize (of his mentality). Moreover, my fiance was here today so it was a special day. (Facing Vijaykumar Vyshak) Pace-off in totality was tough but as fast bowlers pace -on bowling, it is It was easy to take them to the cleaners. It happened to us too during our bowling innings,” Iyer said in the post-match presentation.
RCB batsman Kohli was criticized for his slow batting despite the star batsman scoring 83 off 59 balls.
However, Venkatesh revealed that the pitch had two paces, slightly slower in the first innings.
“The wicket was two paced and double bounced in the first innings. And it was very difficult to hit boundaries in the first innings. And the pitch became better to hit in the second innings in yesterday’s match at Chinnaswamy,” added he added.
After KKR won the toss, they opted to field. After losing skipper Faf early, Virat Kohli had a 65-run partnership with Cameron Green (33 in 21 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) and a 42-run stand with Glenn Maxwell (28 in 19 balls, with three fours and a six). Virat scored 83* in 59 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes to take RCB to 182/6 along with Dinesh Karthik (20* in eight balls, with three sixes) in their 20 overs.
Andre Russell (2/29) and Harshit Rana (2/39) were the choice of bowlers for KKR.
In the run chase, Phil Salt (30 in 20 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and Sunil Narine (47 in 22 balls, with two fours and five sixes) got KKR off to a fine start with a quick stand-in from 86 runs. 39 balls. After Vyshak and Mayank Dagar (1/23 each) dismissed the openers, Venkatesh Iyer (50* in 30 balls, with three fours and four sixes) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (39 in 24 balls, with two fours and two sixes) led the way. KKR to a seven-wicket win with 19 balls to go.
Sunil won ‘Player of the Match’ in his 500th match for his knock of 47 and one wicket.
RCB are sixth in the points table with one win and two losses. They only have two points. KKR are second with two wins in two matches and four points.
(With added inputs)
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