"Flower nahi, fire hai main" - Fans hail Venkatesh Iyer for his aggressive match-winning 50 for KKR in IPL 2024 clash vs RCB
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Venkatesh Iyer received praise from the fans after his aggressive match-winning knock against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Friday (March 29). KKR went on to win the match clinically by seven wickets at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
RCB made a decent total of 182/6 in the first innings after losing the toss on the back of Virat Kohli's 83* (59). Andre Russell and Harshit Rana were the star performers with the ball, scalping two wickets each for the Kolkata side.
KKR then raced away to 86 in 6.2 overs on the back of Sunil Narine (47) and Phil Salt (30) fiery knocks. RCB hoped that the first wicket of Narine in the seventh over would pause the high-scoring rate momentarily.
Coming in at number three, Venkatesh Iyer ensured that the platform set by the openers did not get wasted by playing an intent-filled knock. He looked in good rhythm, smashing the bowlers all around the park en route to 50 (30). He departed in the 16th over when just 16 runs were needed for the win for the visitors. Shreyas Iyer and Rinku Singh then finished the match in the 17th over to take their side to second spot in the points table.
Fans were impressed with Venkatesh Iyer's knock against RCB and expressed their reactions to it with X (formerly Twitter) posts. Here are some of them:
"The pitch got better for batting as the game progressed" - Venkatesh Iyer after KKR's win vs RCB in IPL 2024
Speaking after the conclusion of the match, Venkatesh Iyer reflected on the win and said:
"To be honest, the pitch got better for batting as the game progressed. The ball was coming nicely onto the bat and credit goes to Narine with the way he started the innings. We just had to carry on and finish the formalities. When you go in, you have to capitalize on the momentum set."
He continued:
"My fiance is here, I would like to credit this innings to her. I think Vyshak bowled really well. He understood and assessed the pitch really well, so it was a little tough to face him. Even when we bowled the quick deliveries, we were taken to the cleaners. So as a batter, it was important to wait for those loose deliveries and make them count. It's just a little jacked up, I'll have to go and get it scanned. Let's see (on his back injury)."
Venkatesh Iyer will be back in action on April 3 when KKR will face DC in their next match in IPL 2024.