MI vs KKR, IPL 2023: Venkatesh Brakes The Draught Of Century

Venkatesh Iyer led Kolkata Knight Riders to a dominant 185/6 against Mumbai Indians on the first match of Sunday blockbuster with a brilliant 51-ball 104, his first century in the IPL 2023. The 28-year-old all-rounder from India and KKR, Iyer, scored his most astounding total in the IPL and this season among all batters in a one-on-one match against the Mumbai Indians, blasting an overall 6 fours and 9 sixes to achieve second century of this IPL 2023 season by only playing 49 balls.

In MI vs KKR match Iyer hits his first-ever IPL 2023 century in style

Venkatesh broke the record for the fastest century in today’s MI vs KKR match, set by Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Harry Brook, who hit 100 from 55 balls against KKR a couple of nights ago. Venky Iyer, who injured his knee at the opening of his innings when playing a ramp shot off Cameron Green’s over, dominated the bowlers for the Mumbai Indians. None of the top-order batsmen for Kolkata Knight Riders was successful today.

Although Iyer, who is in his third IPL season for KKR, staggered between the wickets to finish runs, the blow was painful, gradually the pain passed, allowing the left-handed batter to play naturally. Venky reached his first IPL century with 5 fours and 9 sixes in innings full of shots smashed all over the park.

Venkatesh Iyer did well to score strongly in his 48-run stand for the second wicket with Rahmanullah Gurbaz (scored only 8 runs), 50 runs for the fourth wicket with Shardul Thakur (scored only 14 runs), and 36 for the fifth wicket with Rinku Singh while most of the KKR batsmen could not last long enough (scores 18 runs).

When he got N Jagadeesan caught by Hrithik Shokeen for a five-ball duck in the second over, Cameron Green gave MI their first breakthrough and rocked KKR right away.

Iyer played a fast inning at No. 3 to give KKR immediate runs in the powerplay as Gurbaz struggled to get going. He struck four sixes and two fours as the visiting team reached 55/1 in six overs.

In the seventh over, Piyush Chawla had Gurbaz caught by Duan Jansen at near third man, ending his stay.

If Iyer attacks the MI bowlers continuously from one end, KKR continued to lose wickets at the other end on a consistent basis. Nitish Rana (who scored only 5) too had a disastrous batting performance. He mistimed a shot from Shokeen and left after speaking with the spin bowler briefly.

Rinku, the newest star for KKR, was out for a run-a-ball 18 with two fours, and all-rounder Andre Russell was able to relax and hit his first double-digit score after three games, finishing on 21 not out from 11 balls.

Arjun Tendulkar made his MI debut earlier in the innings. He opened the attack and got the ball to swing back towards the right-handers for KKR, Jagadesan, and Gurbaz, bowling two fairly impressive overs.