On this day, April 16,2023: Venkatesh Iyer’s hundred goes in vain as Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders. It was the 22nd match of the IPL 2023 season played between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede
Stadium. Kolkata Knight Riders were batting first and lost the wicket of Jagadeeshan early. Venkatesh Iyer walked in and what followed was some spectacular batting from the left hand batter.
Venkatesh Iyer took on the bowlers from ball one and played at an excellent strike rate to put KKR on top. He did not get much support from the other end, but he managed to keep going. KKR were reduced to 73/3 at one stage and it looked like Mumbai were coming back into the contest, but Venkatesh played a sublime knock as he smashed a century.
Kolkata Knight Riders scored 185/6 at the end of the first innings and it was a terrific effort from them but one man in particular stood out and it was Venkatesh Iyer. The left hander scored 104 runs from just 51 balls and the next highest scorer for KKR had 21 runs. It just showed the dominance by Venkatesh but due to lack of support from the other batters KKR could post only a par total.
Chasing the target, Mumbai Indians went all guns blazing and had a terrific start as openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan smashed 65 runs for the opening wicket in just five overs. Ishan Kishan completed his half century and found good support from Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav and Tim David who all contributed with useful knocks as Mumbai Indians won the match by 5 wickets. Despite being on the losing side, Venkatesh Iyer was the player of the match for his stunning performance. It was a memorable game for the home crowd as they witnessed this knock and also their home team Mumbai Indians winning the game.
