By K Aditya
Dubai, Oct 1 (UNI) Rookie Venkatesh Iyer continued with his fine form in the IPL 2021 as the 26-year-old batter scored 67 off 47 to help Kolkata Knight Riders post a challenging total of 165/7 against Punjab Kings, here on Friday.
PBKS bowlers also deserve credit for a good comeback as Arshdeep Singh (3/32) and Ravi Bishnoi (2/26) stopped the flow of runs with crucial wickets in the second half of the innings.
Sent in to bat first, KKR started on a bright note with in-form Iyer smashing Fabian Allen for two boundaries in the the very first over. The Kolkata outfit soon suffered a major blow in opener Shubman Gill, who departed after scoring just seven runs. The 22-year-old batter was deceived by Arshdeep's delivery that pitched up around off and shaped to come back in; clipping his off-stump.
Iyer, meanwhile, continue spraying regular boundaries for KKR in a 72-run second-wicket stand with Rahul Tripathi, who took his time to settle in at the other end.
Tripathi opened up his arm for the first time in the ninth over when he shot Allen for a six and then Nathan Ellis for two fours in the eleventh over.
The 30-year-old right-handed batter scored a fruitful 26-ball 34 before falling prey to wrist-spinner in the 12th over with the scoreboard changing to 90/2.
Iyer, at the other end, reached his second fifty of the season in the next over and backed that up with a six over deep mid-wicket and two boundaries to take the score past 110 by the end of 14th over.
The southpaw became Bishnoi's second wicket after he failed to clear the boundary at the deep mid-wicket.
Captain Eoin Morgan (2 off 2) was dismissed right after by Mohammed Shami, leaving KKR sensing trouble at 124/4 in 16 overs.
However, an 18-ball 31 cameo by Nitish Rana soon added more value and pace to KKR scoreboard, taking them close to 150 by the time he was removed by Arshdeep.
Dinesh Karthik (11 off 11) ans Sunil Narine (3 off 3) ensured team put 165/7 at the end of 20th over.
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