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Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Director of Cricket and cricket coach Mike Hesson lauded Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer for his match-winning knock against Mumbai Indians (MI), pointing out how he was timing the ball superbly and did not stop despite being hit on his knee.
KKR became the first team to qualify for IPL playoffs after a solid knock from Venkatesh Iyer and an all-round show by Andre Russell along with a fine performance by spinners helped them secure an 18-run win against MI at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday. Speaking on JioCinema, Hesson said, "He seems to love playing against Mumbai Indians. He got hit on the knee earlier but that did not seem to stop him. He timed everything beautifully, batted with a strike rate of over 200 and when everybody else was struggling because of the seaming ball, he played a match-winning hand." Venkatesh has a great record against MI. In six games against MI, he has scored 362 runs at an average of 72.40 and a strike rate of 165.30. He has scored a century and three fifties against MI, with the best score of 104 runs. Coming to the match, it was restricted to a 16-over per side affair due to rain. MI opted to field first after winning the toss. Following early loss of openers Phil Salt and Sunil Narine, valuable knocks came from Venkatesh Iyer (42 in 21 balls, with six fours and two sixes), Nitish Rana (33 in 23 balls, with four boundaries and a six), Andre Russell (24 in 14 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and Rinku Singh (20 in 12 balls, with two sixes), which helped KKR reach 157/7 in the 20 overs. Piyush Chawla (2/28) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/39) were the top bowlers for MI. In the run-chase, Ishan Kishan (40 in 22 balls, with five fours and two sixes) and Rohit Sharma (19 in 24 balls, with a four and six) started with a fine 65-run opening stand. However, KKR soon restricted the run of flow and took wickets. Tilak Varma (32 in 17 balls, with five fours and a six) and Naman Dhir (17 in six balls, with a four and two sixes) put up a fight, but MI fell short by 18 runs, ending at 139/8 in their 20 overs. Varun Chakravarthy (2/17) was the top bowler for KKR. Andre Russell and Harshit Rana (2/34) also did fine with the ball. KKR is at the top of the points table, with nine wins and three losses, with 18 points. MI is at the bottom with four wins and nine losses, giving them eight points. (ANI)
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