KOLKATA — Venkatesh
Iyer answered his critics with a match-winning 60 off 29 balls, propelling
Kolkata Knight Riders to a convincing 80-run win in the Indian Premier League
here on Thursday.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s classy 50 (32b, 5x4, 2x6) in an
81-run stand with skipper Ajinkya Rahane (38 off 27) laid the foundation, while
Iyer and Rinku Singh (32 not out off 17b) provided the late fireworks with a
blistering 91-run partnership (41b) to lift KKR to 200/6 -- their highest total
of the season.
Seamer Vaibhav Arora set the tone by removing the dangerous
Travis Head (4) and Ishan Kishan (2) in successive overs to return with
impressive figures of 4-1-29-3.
Harshit Rana dismissed Abhishek Sharma (2), leaving SRH
reeling at 9/3 in 2.1 overs, while Andre Russell and Sunil Narine also chipped
in with a wicket each to make it 66/5 inside 10 overs.
Varun Chakravarthy then cleaned up the lower order taking
two wickets in two balls en route to his 4-0-22-3 as SRH crumbled to 120 all
out -- their explosive batting lineup lasting just 16.4 overs.
The defending champions thus returned to winning ways after
losing two of their first three matches and will next face Lucknow Super Giants
on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, SRH, enduring their third straight defeat, head home
to take on Gujarat Titans on Sunday.
After being reduced to 9/3 in 2.1 overs, Nitish Reddy (19)
counterattacked Arora with two fours and a six, while Kamindu Mendis (27 off 20
balls) lifted hopes by taking on Andre Russell with a pick-up shot over deep
square leg.
But Russell struck back to remove Reddy before Sunil Narine
(1/30) accounted for Mendis in the 10th over, reducing SRH to 66/5 at the
halfway mark and effectively ending their chase.
Earlier, KKR’s new-look opening pair continued to struggle,
with Quinton de Kock (1) and Narine (7) once again falling cheaply after Pat
Cummins opted to bowl first.
Rahane and Raghuvanshi steadied the innings, countering
early movement with intelligent shot selection.
Rahane’s back-to-back pull-shot sixes off Shami and Cummins
broke the shackles, as KKR reached 53/2 after the powerplay.
Raghuvanshi showcased his stroke-making prowess with
exquisite drives and a stunning reverse hit past backward point, reaching his
fifty in 30 balls.
Zeeshan Ansari (1/25) eventually ended the partnership,
dismissing Rahane in the same over Raghuvanshi was dropped on 43.
However, the youngster didn’t last long, falling to a
stunning forward-diving catch off IPl debutant Kamindu Mendis.
Mendis, making his IPL debut, bowled left-arm spin to
right-hander Raghuvanshi before switching to off-spin against the left-handed
Rinku Singh in the same over, a rare sight in the competition.
Boundaries dried up for 16 balls before Iyer, KKR’s
costliest player this season (INR 23.75 crore), broke the shackles with a
desperate pull off a Simarjeet Singh beamer.
Rinku followed with three successive boundaries off Harshal
Patel before Iyer tore into Simarjeet, hammering him for consecutive fours.
Rinku finished the over with a towering six over long-on,
yielding 17 runs, while Iyer went berserk against Cummins in the 19th over,
smashing him for 4, 6, 4, 4 in succession as KKR amassed 78 runs in the last
five overs.
Cummins’ reluctance to use spin despite variable bounce
raised eyebrows. Mendis (1/4) wasn’t given another over after his crucial
breakthrough, while Ansari bowled just three overs (1/25).
Instead, Cummins trusted his pace attack, which failed to
contain Iyer and Rinku in the death overs.
