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Venkatesh Iyer became the first player to score a century for Kolkata Knight Riders in 15 years as his blistering knock of 104 (51) took KKR's tally to 185/6 in 20 overs against Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
In the absence of Rohit Sharma, Surya Kumar Yadav stepped up to take the MI's charge. He gave the ball to the young MI debutant Arjun Tendulkar, who bowled an impactful over to kick off the game. MI found an early breakthrough as Cameron Green picked up his first wicket of the match as Hrithik Shokeen took a diving catch to dismiss N Jagadeesan for a four-ball duck in the second over. Rahmanullah Gurbaz soon followed the footsteps of his opening partner in the final over of the powerplay. Gurbaz's struggle was clearly evident in the initial overs but he tried to reignite his innings by attempting to score boundaries in Piyush Chawala's over. However, his shot ended straight in the hands of Duan Janssen. Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer tried to bring back KKR innings on track after an initial slow start. Venkatesh stepped on the pitch and started to score runs at regular intervals. On the other end, before Nitish Rana could settle on the pitch he lost his wicket to Hrithik Shokeen. A heated exchange was witnessed between the KKR skipper and Shokeen as Nitish seemed unhappy about something Shokeen had said to him as he walked back to the pavilion. MI players came quickly to cool down the matter and avoid any sort of delay in the game. While other wickets kept falling on a consistent basis Venkatesh went on to play according to his own will. At the end of 10 overs, KKR had a score of 104/3. After Shardul Thakur was dismissed by Shokeen in the 13th over for a score of 13(11), the in-form batter Rinku Singh stepped in and held on to the other end as Venkatesh went on a rampage. Iyer lost his wicket in the 18th over to Riley Meredith. He scored 104 runs which included six fours and nine sixes. Andre Russell came forward to play a short cameo as Rinku failed to live up to his status in the final over. Russell scored 18 (18) which included two boundaries. Russell played an unbeaten knock of 21(11)* to take KKR's tally to 185/6 in 20 overs. Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 185/6 (Venkatesh Iyer 104(52), Andre Russell 21(11)* and Hrithik Shokeen 2/34) vs Mumbai Indians. (ANI)
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