General News

KKR steps into Iyer gear

September 24, 2021
Bharat Times English News

Through Venkatesh Iyer’s discovery and Rahul Tripathi’s pyrotechnics, Kolkata Knight Riders continued to rise. He came in the second leg of IPL playing serious catch-up with just four points. Consistent wins from Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians have now propelled them into the top four.

MI’s total of 155 was below par. But on the slow pitch of the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, they had a star-studded bowling line-up to defend it. Iyer and Tripathi, however, took a walk in the park for KKR, breaking MI Hoodoo in the process. This was his first win against his bogey team in two years. More importantly, after a seven-wicket win with 29 balls to spare, they have one of the healthiest net run-rates among all teams.

iyer rocks

The beauty of IPL is that it allows young players to break out of relative obscurity and rise to prominence. Iyer is the latest in the list. Even four months ago, the 26-year-old was a bench-warmer. As the left-hander revealed after the last game, he was the head coach of KKR Brendon McCullumDecided to include him in the playing XI. The team management, caught in the initial quagmire during the first phase, acted in desperation. This is proving to be a masterstroke.

His unbeaten 41 off 27 balls against RCB was impressive but without the pressure of the scoreboard. Against MI, they faced a formidable challenge – they were chasing and against what was arguably the best-rounded attack in the league. He didn’t bow down. he attacked Trent Boult And Adam Milne, two experienced international bowlers, was not afraid to use his legs with disdain and against spinners. He hit a six and a four off Milne’s ball. When Jasprit Bumrah’s height was reduced by a few inches, he stood up and clinged to the wall. He sweeps Rahul Chahar from outside off-stump to deep midwicket-boundary. He rolls down the track and hits a six off Krunal Pandya.

Iyer completed his maiden IPL fifty off 25 balls and when Bumrah dismissed him for 53, KKR were just 28 runs away from victory.

His backstory makes his rise even sweeter. Iyer pursued a career in chartered accountancy and management to play cricket at the behest of his mother. He made his IPL debut six years after playing his first home T20 match for Madhya Pradesh. At this rate, he can become a millionaire in the open auction next year.

Tripathi Dazzle

He is well known in the IPL, but Tripathi didn’t mind being overshadowed by his junior teammate despite outscoring him. In difficult conditions, he played an innings of 74 not out in 42 balls. The pace of MI’s fast bowlers benefited Tripathi. Case in point – when he tried to flick Bumrah and took an edge, the ball went over the third man boundary. Also, the radar didn’t work for Boult and Milne, worsening the situation for their team. While playing spinners, Tripathi was adept at lifting them by hand. Backed by a smooth surface, thanks to evening dew, their match-winning partnership of 88 runs off 52 balls was the joie de vivre of the game.

lose mi way

The pitches at this venue are generally green in color with a good cover of grass, but historically spinners have taken 40 percent of wickets on this ground in limited overs cricket. The reason for this is the slowing down of the surface. The bounce is somewhat parabolic even for fast bowlers.

So KKR skipper Eoin Morgan had no hesitation in putting in the MI and there was little reluctance to start with spin. He read the pitch in its entirety, but his counterpart, Rohit Sharma, that countered with sheer class. Rohit’s outsmarting Varun Chakraborty was the best piece of cricket ever in the second leg of the IPL.

Against the mystery spinner, the MI captain stayed near the line of the ball, giving the bowler a good look at the stumps, and prompting him to bowl straight. Varun takes the bait and is loft-drive to mid-off for a boundary.

The spinner failed to stop Rohit’s next move. The latter decided to be at the back of the line this time, overtaking the bowler. Varun once again bowled straight, a leg stump ball. Rohit drives it into the corner of the cow for another boundary.

Quinton de Kock was facing the fast bowlers at the other end and after nine overs the defending champions were 77 for no loss. KKR then rallied first through a vicious Sunil Narine leg-cutter, which gave Rohit a bit more bounce to be caught at long-on. After a choke, MI lost two wickets for 16 runs in four overs.
The back-end side had MI 28/2 in four overs in another leg. The game turned in KKR’s favour.

Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians: 155 for 6 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 55, Rohit Sharma 33; Lockie Ferguson 2/27, Famous Krishna 2/43) Lost to Kolkata Knight Riders: 159 for three in 15.1 overs ( Rahul Tripathi 74) not out, Venkatesh Iyer 53, Jasprit Bumrah 3/43).

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