Kolkata Knight Riders captain Shreyas Iyer admitted they would reach 210-220 after their huge win of 106 runs against Delhi Capitals at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. However, KKR went on to post a gargantuan score of 272, the second-highest score in IPL history, which Iyer thinks was the icing on the cake.
Sunil Narine was the chief destroyer of Delhi Capitals’ bowlers as KKR smashed 88 runs in the first six overs, making the most of the Powerplay conditions. Narine scored a 21-ball fifty but had the rub of the green as Rishabh Pant didn’t go for the review when he was on 24.
Narine scored 85 off just 39 balls whereas debutant Angkrish Raghuvanshi scored 27-ball 54 as the pair added 104 runs for the second wicket. Andre Russell then smashed 19-ball 41 while Rinku Singh played a cameo of 8-ball 26 to power KKR to 272.
The pitch was a belter and the KKR batters made the most of the small boundaries. All the Delhi Capitals bowlers, barring Sumit Kumar, conceded their runs at more than 10 rpo as they were taken to the cleaners.
On the other hand, the hosts were skittled out for only 166 with Varun Chakravarthy and Vaibhav Arora taking three wickets each. Rishabh Pant and Tristan Stubbs scored 55 and 54 runs respectively but none of the other batters could go past the 20-run mark.
Shreyas Iyer said in the post-match presentation, “No, I didn’t to be honest, we thought we would reach 210-220 but 270 was the icing on the cake. I said in a pre-match interview that Sunny’s job is to take us off to a good start, if he doesn’t get us off, that’s also okay.”
Iyer also showered praise on Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who timed the ball to perfection in his maiden IPL match.
Iyer said, “He was fearless from ball one, his work ethic is phenomenal, the way he played his shots were pleasing to the eye. It’s great to see all the bowlers stepping up at the right time and capitalizing on the opportunities.”
The KKR captain also heaped praise on Vaibhav Arora, who accounted for Prithvi Shaw, Rasikh Dar Salam, and Abishek Porel and conceded only 27 runs in his quota of four overs.
Iyer concluded, “Vaibhav Arora took crucial wickets for us, he stood up for us tonight.”
KKR will next take on Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Monday.
