Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings are up against each other in the 45th match of the Indian Premier League 2021 at Dubai International Stadium. Both teams have a chance to qualify for the playoffs, KKR in particular have a better shot to make it to the last four.
KL Rahul won the toss and opted to bowl first. Chris Gayle has left the IPL 2021 and he is replaced by Fabian Allen in the squad while Mandeep Singh and Harpreet Brar have made way for Mayank Agarwal and Shahrukh Khan. KKR left Lockie Ferguson and Sandeep Warrier and brought in Tim Seifert and Shivam Mavi.
Also Read: Venkatesh Iyer and Rahul Tripathi receives tips from MS Dhoni
Shubhman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer walked out to open the innigns for KKR. Gill got out cheaply for 7 as Arshdeep Singh clean bowled him. Venkatesh, however, wasn’t bothered by the dismissal of his partner and kept going for runs.
He found a good ally in Rahul Tripathi. The duo added 72 runs for the second wicket. Venkatesh looked threatening in particular and tear the PKBS bowlers apart. He played some sensational shots and scored yet another fifty in the second leg of the IPL 2021.
Venkatesh scored 67 runs in 49 balls where he hit nine fours and one six before getting out to Ravi Bishnoi.
Also Read: Aakash Chopra takes dig at KKR, says if only Shakib were a kiwi
Twitter went berserk after seeing this knock by Venkatesh Iyer. Here are some of the finest tweets;
Venkatesh Iyer is our future star
— Robin Saroy💫 (@RobinSaroy2002) October 1, 2021
Venkatesh Iyer is a swagger. Helmet comes off every time when a spinner comes.
— Abhijeet (@baskarabhi_) October 1, 2021
Venkatesh Iyer – 360 degree player. pic.twitter.com/O6Zt8qMSTO
— Tanuj Singh (@ImTanujSingh) October 1, 2021
Venkatesh Iyer walks in to bat without a helmet!
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) October 1, 2021
Rare in International or League cricket – Batsman coming to bat without a helmet. Venkatesh Iyer doing for #KKR.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 1, 2021
Venkatesh iyer hitting shots without a helmet on is pure emotion. 😌💜 you all will concur with me.#KKRvsPBKS #PBKSvKKR #KolkataKnightRiders #Kolkata #AmiKKR #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/5whVZ3Fvx2
— Adrija samal (@samal_ad) October 1, 2021
There's a 90s flair about Venkatesh Iyer. That smash/drive off the last ball with no helmet is so very 80s-90s.#KKRvPBKS
— Rohit Sankar (@imRohit_SN) October 1, 2021
VENKATESH IYER >>>>>>> HARDIK PANDYA.
Agree or Hide..#IPL2021 #KKRvsPBKS #PBKSvKKR
— That BULLISH Guy! 😎 (@i_Prathit) October 1, 2021
Riding on Venkatesh’s fifty and Rahul Tripathi’s 34 runs, KKR posted 165/7 in 20 overs. Both set batsmen got out in a short span of time and KKR lost the plot from thereon. They managed only 50 runs in the last six overs. Arshdeep Singh bagged three wickets while Bishnoi managed to dismiss both set batsmen of KKR.
