IPL 2022: Proud of the way we fought till the end – Shreyas Iyer after thriller against RCB

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Shreyas Iyer was proud of his team after they gave Royal Challengers Bangalore a run for their money in the sixth match of the ongoing Indian Premier League 2022 at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai on Wednesday.

KKR could not come up with a good batting performance as they were skittled out for a paltry score of 128 runs after Faf du Plessis won the toss and decided to bowl first. However, KKR bowlers did a good job to put RCB under the cosh as they took wickets at regular intervals.

Umesh Yadav struck in the first over to get rid of Anuj Rawat with a peach of a delivery. Subsequently, Tim Southee dismissed Faf du Plessis as he got a leading edge to point, where Ajinkya Rahane took a simple catch. Kohli was once again dismissed while fishing outside the off-stump and Yadav was able to get his second wicket to leave RCB tottering at 17-3 in the run-chase.

However, David Willey and Sherfane Rutherford added a crucial alliance of 45 runs and played cautiously as there was hardly any pressure of the required run-rate.

Subsequently, Tim Southee got two wickets of Sherfane Rutherford and Wanindu Hasaranga in the 18th over but Dinesh Karthik and Harshal Patel were able to get their team over the line. Thus, it was a valiant effort from KKR bowlers as they kept fighting till the end despite posting a below par score.

Shreyas Iyer said in the post-match presentation, “I really found this game exciting. Before getting in, I spoke with my boys and told them that this game is going to define our character and attitude on the field no matter we defend or not. The way we fight it on the ground, that is really going to reflect our mentality in the next few games. I am really proud the way we played this game and took it till the last over. It was really tough at that moment because I wanted to get my best bowlers up there and get a few wickets early on but it didn’t work out really well. Kudos to their batsmen, they played really well out in the middle. They took out the toughest phase as soon as possible. In the end, I decided to go with Venky because he’s also got really good experience bowling at international level and you need to back them especially at the start of the tournament. It’s really important they gain confidence as early as as possible and this was one of the best games to get that.”

Iyer added that they want to be aggressive in their batting approach but at the same time it is imperative for them to access the pitch and the conditions before throwing the kitchen sink at the opposition.

He said, “The wicket was looking a bit dicey at the start, it was two-paced, variable and the bounce was odd. We wanted to get off to a really good start and that’s what we planned. The execution part was tough. We are going to come back with the same mindset, we are not going to chicken out. That’s what we want to focus on and that’s what we spoke about coming into the tournament that we’ll be someone who’d be taking risks. Next time when we come, we need to rectify the errors and see to it that we get the momentum as early as possible. He (Wanindu Hasaranga) bowled really well, he got off to a good start after getting my wicket. I was able to read him pretty well at the start. We had decided that we’ll play him as an off-spinner but unfortunately he bowled really good lines and lengths. He’s also very experienced and he was getting some help on this wicket. Congratulations to him.”

KKR will next take on Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Friday.