IPL 2023: Venkatesh Iyer smashes his maiden IPL century; Finishes KKR’s 15 year long wait for a ton
Venkatesh Iyer knocked his first IPL century to power Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to 185/6 after being invited to bat by Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. Carrying forward his rich form, Iyer smashed 104 off 51 balls. He walked into bat after KKR lost Jagadeesan for 0.
However, he maintained an attacking approach, completed his half-century in 23 balls, and then touched the triple-digit mark in 49 balls. Despite that, KKR struggled in the death overs and could only manage to accumulate 45 runs in the final five overs.
Venkatesh Iyer IPL century Finishes KKR’s 15-year long wait for a Ton
On Sunday, April 16, the Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) batter scored 104 runs off 51 balls with the help of six fours and nine sixes. Iyer also hit KKR’s second hundred in the IPL after Brendon McCullum hit the first one against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) way back in 2008.
Talking further about the match, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma was included in the impact subs list, Suryakumar Yadav won the toss in his place and elected to bowl first. Arjun Tendulkar is making his Mumbai Indians debut today, Duan Jansen replaces Behrendroff.
Slowdown at crucial stage
Talk about going in reverse gear. KKR were all set for a score well in excess of 200 when they inexplicably pressed the handbrake. From 135/4 in 14 overs on a belter of a Wankhede pitch, with short boundaries and a quick outfield, they ended up with ‘only’ 185/6 – that’s 50 runs in six overs while there were the likes of Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh and Andre Russell in the middle.
Iyer slowed down as he neared his hundred, but Rinku at the other end couldn’t take up the run-scoring responsibility. Mumbai Indians bowlers too raised their game, making clever use of change of pace, bouncers and yorkers to keep the batsmen guessing. For a large part of the innings, Iyer was the only batsman to find the boundary, and the situation didn’t change too much after he got out for 104.
Thank you for reading.
