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“I am doing what has been asked of me," says Venkatesh Iyer after match-winning performance

Young sensation Venkatesh Iyer, who has played an instrumental role in scripting a turnaround of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League said that his batting style and methods are reflections of the team management’s confidence and clear strategy.

Iyer was fantastic with the bat in the second qualifier of the tournament against the Delhi Capitals and batted fluently on a pitch where almost all other batsmen struggled to bat with control. 

He scored a fifty at the top of the order and it made a huge difference to the Knight Riders’ fortunes on the night as they were chasing a tricky total of 136 runs to go through their only third final in the history of the league. Righty, he was adjudged Man of the Match.

“I am doing what has been asked of me. I am very happy that we ended on the winning side. There is no difference. I came out and played the way I wanted to play. I am grateful to the management. It is a wonderful place to come and play," Iyer said.

The Knight Riders’ skipper Eoin Morgan too had words of praise for the young man and he commended him to be an imposing force at the top of the order. He said that Iyer made the difference with the bat by batting distinctively better than others and appeared to be batting on a different pitch than the others.

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IPL 2021 | Qualifier 2 | DC vs KKR: Hits and Flops as Rahul Tripathi wins jittery clash for Knight Riders

It was smooth sailing for the Kolkata Knight riders for the most part of the second Qualifier against Delhi capitals in Indian Premier League 2021, only that before Rahul Tripathi hit a six on the fifth ball of the 20th over to win it in style, the team from Kolkata had played 22 balls and scored only seven runs, losing four wickets at the same time. It was a phase of the game that could be well described as ‘total brain fade from KKR batters’. From needing 13 to win from 25 balls with nine wickets in hand, KKR went to six needed from two balls with only three wickets in hand and had it not been for Tripathi, they might have lost in a manner which would have been discussed for years to come. Well, that didn’t happen, but what would be discussed is the performances of the players, both who were a hit in this game as well as those who turned out to be a flop in the section called Hits and Flops. Hits Venkatesh Iyer Iyer was in his full flow today as he has been throughout his second league in the nine matches he has played. But today’s knock was extra special in the sense that there was purpose in the way he was playing, it looked like he meant business and wasn’t going to throw away his wicket. For his 55 off 41 balls, which saw him hit four fours and three sixes, the Madhya Pradesh man was given the Player of the Match award as well. It was during that post-match presentation ceremony that Iyer revealed that he was hell-bent on sticking at the wicket and getting the much-needed win. In the presentation interview, when Harsha Bhogle mentioned him being selected as a net bowler for Team India’s T20 World Cup squad, Iyer said that while it is good news, he was truly focused on winning this game and will remain so till the final on Friday, giving a glance into how his mind works. The partnership between him and Shubman Gill of 96 for the first wicket was the real reason how KKR managed to driveway all demons of the pitch, which looked like minefield fro Delhi batters in the first innings and later on even fro KKR batters past the opening pair. Varun Chakravarthy While Sunil Narine did for Kolkata in the Eliminator with both bat and ball and Shakib hit the winning runs, it was the turn of the third musketeer in the spin trio of the Knight Riders. Varun Chakravarthy, who is also KKR’s leading wicket-taker this season, was in his usual touch and picked two crucial wickets to break Delhi’s hopes of reaching a competitive total. The mystery spinner first got rid of Prithvi Shaw who was timing the ball really well and then also removed Shikhar Dhawan, just as he was about to let loose, having played 39 balls. In his four overs, the Tamil Nadu bowler gave way only 26 runs with an economy of just above six. Kagiso Rabada Rishabh Pant missed the trick in the last game by not bowling Rabada on the final over. But in this game, he was not going to let this happen. The Proteas bowler was called in the 13th over first after his futile first two pavers which resulted in no wickets and 17 runs. But in this over he broke the opening stand and removed Iyer. Then once again, after two quiet overs by Anrich Nortje and AveshKhan, Rabad was called in to bowl the 18th over and put pressure on KKR batters, and boy did the 26 years old doit? By giving away just one run and also picking up the wicket of experienced Dinesh Karthik, he gave his team the much-needed boost to try and defend 9 off the last two overs. Rabada finished his spell with figures of 2-23 from four overs. Flops Nitish Rana If you do it once, it’s a mistake but if you do it twice and in two crucial games, that means you are not learning from your mistakes and not improving one bit. And that seems to be the case with Nitish Rana as well. In the last game, when KKR were cruising to a win, Rana played a lofted shot, got out and put the team under pressure. But that pressure was handled as experienced heads like Shakib and Morgan finished the game. In this game, when the team is needing way less than run a ball, what possible reasons could a batsman, who has played for India and has been part of the IPL for the last eight years, chose to balloon the ball up and go for a glory shot, which was not at all asked for. This attitude might sink the Knight Riders’ boat as they might not get a second chance in the final. Marcus Stoinis The Aussie all-rounder was called in place of Tom Curran. Curran did go for runs in the last game no doubt, but pushing Stonis up, even as he couldn’t bowl, instead of playing Steve Smith was a fatal decision. It didn’t work out as the Western Australian player got out for 18 off 23 balls and wasn’t able to perform as per expectations whatsoever. The fact that he couldn’t even use his feet, struggling to play even Shivam Mavi was totally humiliating for a batsman of his stature. It was due to him and Dhawan piling up dot balls that the rest of the Delhi batting lineup came under pressure. Special Mention: Rahul Tripathi Rahul Tripathi might not fit in the Hits column, but he definitely wasn’t a flop either, hence he is in a special section. Playing four dot balls straightway in the 18th over, just as he came on the crease, it looked not very likely at all that he would win the game for the Knight Riders. But as they say, it’s not over till it. So it was exactly like, ‘cometh the hour, cometh the man’ as Tripathi rocked to the back foot and hit the fifth ball of the 20th over, which was just short of length and deposited it out of the ground to win a thriller and etch his name in the minds of many KKR fans and fellow players. Courtesy of this win at Sharjah, the Knight Riders have now made it to their first-ever IPL final in seven years and will face Chennai Super Kings at Dubai.

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IPL 2021 | Qualifier 2 | DC vs KKR: What Experts Said as Knight Riders conquer Capitals to reach final

It seemed as if there was a competition between the Delhi Capitals and the Kolkata Knight Riders to beat each other in mediocrity in terms of tactics and execution, but a superb six by Rahul Tripathi off Ravichandran Ashwin took the Knight Riders into the final for the first time since 1024 edition. Having been asked to bat first on what was expected to be a slow and low pitch, the Capitals batted without any heart and convictions except for Prithvi Shaw, who gave his all during his short stay at the crease. The in-form man Shikhar Dhawan struggled to get going and neither did Marcus Stoinis tried to break the shackle and played with a riskier tactic of setting up for attacking bating only in the end overs. If the Capitals would’ve done their homework, they would have been aware of the fact that slowing down initially and backing batsmen to hit big in the end overs have not been a successful method at Sharjah. The Knight Riders bowling attack were superb. While the mystery spin of Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine kept the Capitals batsmen under control, the pace duo of Shivam Mavi and Lockie Ferguson bowled hard lengths not give them any freedom to go big, and all the tactics of Capitals unravelled. The Knight Riders were in the game for the most part on the back of a stupendous half-century from Venkatesh Iyer and his 96-run partnership with Shubman Gill. However, as soon as both of them departed when the Knight Riders were cruising along, the rest of the batting unit tried to match the Capitals’ batting unit in absurdity. They batted without judicious aggression and either went defensive to eat up many balls and then floundered when tried to hit their way out of trouble. From 125/3 when Gill out, they plummeted to 130/7 on the fourth ball of the final over and needed six runs off the last two balls. Ashwin was on a hat-trick but Rahul Tripathi was in another mood and he spoiled Capital’s dare of winning the game from behind. Here, we’ll analyse the perspectives of both captains and experts’ views of the game. Captain’s views As per usual post-match presentation proceedings, the losing captain Rishabh Pant was the first one to be confronted with questions. He was asked about his reading of the game and how did he see them coming back in the game. He said that there was no lack of belief from his side and commended the bowling attack for pulling things back from the brink of doom. "Can't change anything after the match. Always we kept on believing and stayed in the game for as long as possible. The bowlers pulled it back,” Pant said. It was a sluggish game for the Capitals star-studded batting lineup as only three batsmen such as Shaw, Shreyas Iyer and Shimron Hetmyer could score at more than run a ball. Pant said that the batsmen struggled to rotate the strike leading to a situation of getting stuck and playing too many dot balls. “They bowled really well through the middle overs. We were stuck, and unable to rotate the strike,” he reckoned. He was also asked to sump the campaign from the Capitals’ point of view and a distraught Pant vowed to come back stronger in the next season after playing good cricket throughout the season this year. Hopefully, we can come back next year for a stronger season. We played really good cricket throughout the season. We stuck together and cared for each other. Hopefully, we will improve next year and come back strongly,” he concluded. Eoin Morgan was asked to review the tense finish from a rather seamless position and the skipper conceded his side almost made a mess of it. However, he chose to see the bright side of the coin and cherished reaching the final. From a situation they needed just 13 runs off the last 24 balls with as many as eight wickets in hand, the equation narrowed down to six of the last two balls and Morgan showered praise on Tripathi for hitting the match-winning six off Ashwin. "Should've been a lot easier after the start we got, Venky and Gill set us the platform. Dew came in and all, but hey, we're in the final and we're delighted to get over the line. Would've loved to win convincingly but the Capitals are a very good side. Six off two, the odds were probably in favour of the bowling side, but Rahul Tripathi has done superbly well for us,” Morgan said. The top order of the Knight Riders are full of young Indian players and only Nitish Rana has played international cricket in the format among him, Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer. The Knight Riders had come into the UAE leg of the tournament on the back of just two wins in their first seven games and then won five of their next two to reach the playoffs. They have been exemplary in the second phase and a lot of that success is due to the emergence of players like Iyer and the reliability of Rana. Morgan said that the Knight Riders have created an environment that allows young players space to express themselves and play a fearless brand of cricket. “It's a nice insight into our team culture - the young guys coming in feel free to express themselves. The backroom staff have created an environment for them to do this. With the squad we have, there's expectation. Hopefully, we can implement all that we've strategised,” Morgan said of young players. Having struggled to find a suitable partner for Gill in the first half, the Knight Riders pulled a rabbit out of their hat and introduced Iyer at the top, and what a “terrific player” he has turned out for them. In the game against the Capitals as well, he laid the platform for their eventual entry into the semifinal with another berserk start with the bat against the Capitals bowling attack. Morgan revealed that it was the idea of the coach Brendon McCullum to promote the left-hander to the top of the order and he has repaid the faith by putting in good performances, one after another. “Venky Iyer idea came from the coach, my god, he's a terrific player. Made the chase easy, looks like he was batting on a different wicket,” Morgan said. The Knight Riders have reached just two finals in their history of the IPL and they have won both of them in 2012 and 2014. Their first appearance in an IPL final was against the Chennai Super Kings—the team they are set to fight against to win this edition of the tournament and Morgan and co. is all charged up for that battle. “We would like to keep going, playing against CSK, one of the best franchises in IPL history. Anything can happen,” Morgan signed off. Experts’ views One of the most appealing commentators in the tournament and considered as the voice of Indian cricket, Harsha Bhogle put Eoin Morgan in the league of MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, and David Warner while establishing the role of a strong leader in franchise cricket. He said having a strong leadership such as Morgan gives sides leverage of having one extra player. The theme of the tournament is “where talent meets opportunity” and Bhogle ratified the purpose of the tournament by highlighting the role of young Indian talent in the revival of the Knight Riders. One of the most venerable journalists to be covering the game, Sambit Bal forgave the Knight Riders for doing all they could to lose the game and commended them for coming back strongly to come so far in the tournament. He pointed out that a lot of sides struggled to keep up with the flow of their game and tactics in this edition, the Knight Riders were successful as their players rose to the occasion. On the other hand, he was blunt with facts on the Capitals and pointed out the pattern in Capitals performance where they dominating the league stage and fizzling out at the business end of the tournament. Meanwhile, former England captain Michael Vaughan was ecstatic as his compatriot leading the Knight Riders into the IPL final. He was subtle to point that leading a team to success has not been new to Eoin Morgan in the white-ball format. Both the Knight Riders and the Chennai Super Kings are separate from the elusive IPL trophy by a distance of 240 or fewer balls and there is no dearth of promise and anticipation as Morgan said, “anything can happen”.