Venkatesh Iyer put his ₹23.75 crore price tag behind to shut the critics with a 206.89 strike-rate knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) on Thursday. Having failed in his first two innings in IPL 2025, pressure was mounting on the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder.
Coming onto bat after the fall captain Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer started slow initially, scoring 11 in his first 10 balls. It was the 16th over from Mohammed Shami that the KKR vice-captain broke free.
He was particularly brutal against SRH skipper Pat Cummins in the 19th over with two fours and two sixes as KKR took 21 runs from that over. The left-hander started the final over off Harshal Patel with a six and a four before being caught in the deep by Aniket Verma.
In his final 19 deliveries, Venkatesh Iyer clobbered 41 runs to finish with a 29-ball 60, including seven fours and three sixes, to propel the defending champions past 200 for the first time in this edition.
With KKR reeling at 106/4 at the 13th over, Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh (32 not out) got together for a rescue act with a 91-run stand for the fifth wicket from just 41 balls. For the record, KKR scored 75 runs in the last five overs to finish at 200/6. For the record, it was Venkatesh Iyer’s third consecutive fifty against Sunrisers Hyderabad – 51 not out in IPL 2024 Qualifier 1, 52 not out in IPL 2024 final and 60 (today).
Ajinkya Rahane-Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s rescue act
Earlier, KKR didn’t had the best of the starts as they lost Quinton de Kock and Sunil Narine with just 16 runs on board. It was then captain Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi who put together 81 runs off just 51 balls for the third wicket. While Rahane was dismissed for 38, Raghuvanshi departed after his second IPL fifty this season.
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