Venkatesh Iyer smashes KKR's first IPL century since 2008
Apr 16, 2023
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 16 : India and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer scored his side's first-ever Indian Premier League (IPL) century since 2008 on Sunday, which is also the franchise's only second century in its 15-year old history.
Iyer accomplished this feat during KKR's match against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
In the match, Iyer smashed 104 runs in just 51 balls. His knock consisted of six hundreds and nine sixes. His strike rate was 203.92.
He smashed KKR's second-highest score in IPL history. The highest score for KKR in IPL is held by Brendon McCullum, who scored 158* in just 73 balls, with 10 fours and 13 sixes and a strike rate of 216.43.
With this knock, Iyer became the 'Orange Cap' holder in IPL 2023. He has scored 234 runs at an average of 46.80 and a strike rate of 170.80. He has scored a century and a half-century in the season so far, with the best score of 104.
Dinesh Karthik has the third individual highest score for KKR, scoring 97* in 50 balls against Rajasthan Royals in Kolkata back in 2019. Manish Pandey (94* against Punjab Kings, 2014) and Chris Lynn (93* against Gujarat Lions, 2017) have also played some major knocks for KKR to become their fourth and fifth individual scorers respectively.
Coming to the match, KKR posted 185/6 in their 20 overs after being put to bat first by MI. A century by Venkatesh Iyer (104 in 51 balls with six fours and nine sixes) took the visitors to a huge total. Andre Russell was the second highest-run scorer for KKR with his knock of 21*.
Hritik Shokeen was the pick of the bowlers for MI, with 2/34 in his four overs. Cameron Green, Duan, Piyush Chawla and Riley Meredith got a wicket each.
MI's innings are currently in progress.
