KKR Vs MI: The Hoodoo has seen its end and Kolkata Knight Riders have finally breached and invaded Mumbai Indians' beloved home — Wankhede Stadium, as the Shreyas Iyer-led side have defeated Mumbai Indians by 24 runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) fixture. KKR last won against MI at the venue back in 2012, and ended their wait with a victory tonight.
The match was topsy-turvy for both the sides as KKR were restricted to 57/5 after 6.1 overs, but managed to register 169 thanks to Venky Iyer's 70 and Manish Pandey's 42 (who came in as an Impact Sub). MI too, got off to a sluggish start, as they lost their top order inside the powerplay, but Suryakumar Yadav held one end with great composure, but his wicket announced the downfall of MI, as they fell short off target by 24 runs.
Here's What 'Man Of The Match' Venkatesh Iyer Said In Post-Match Presentation Ceremony
"As a professional cricketer I wanted to be flexible. As I was hitting the ball well, I played the anchor's role and it turned out well. This is the 4th or 5th time that Manish had padded up and finally he got to bat today. Its all due to the impact player rule. It was good to send someone like Manish to anchor the innings before Russell and Ramandeep. I told it will take time to adjust to the wicket. We had the cushion of time. He was the one who was guiding me throughout. Which bowler to take on, which situation to take in. He is an experienced campaigner," said Venkatesh Iyer.
"I have tried to be a smarter cricketer. If you are smart than you can make decisions. I could take on Piyush Chawla or any other seamer but I had to play according to the situation. I am a huge fan of dada so I asked to ask him about my stance and position. I tried that in the nets and it has worked out for me. It was a fruitful conversation with him (Sourav Ganguly)," he added.