Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) suffered a narrow two-wicket defeat at the hands of Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Match 31 of the IPL 2024 season at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday (April 16).
Invited to bat first, the hosts rode on Sunil Narine’s maiden IPL century (109 off 56 balls) to rack up a mammoth 223/6 on the board.
In reply, the Royals got over the line on the last delivery, courtesy of Jos Buttler’s unbeaten 107 in 60 balls. Riyan Parag (34 off 14) and Rovman Powell (26 off 13) also chipped with handy contributions during the daunting chase.
After the game, KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer was at loss of words in explaining the turn of events that led to his team’s defeat.
Iyer admitted that they hadn't anticipated finding themselves in such a closely contested situation after posting such a gigantic total in the first innings.
"I would second that actually (bitter pill to swallow), emotions were a roller coaster, certainly I didn't think we would get into this situation. It’s a funny game at the end of the day, he was striking the ball cleanly and timing them so well, have to take it on the chin and move on. I mean at this point of time you see that you bowl your best deliveries, a little bit hit or miss and you are sent out of the ground. It's good that it happened now rather than it happening in the later stages of the tournament, good learning for us," Iyer said in the post-match interaction.
Commenting on Narine’s knock, the KKR captain stated: “He is a great asset to the team and he is showing it every game, he is that kind of player who capitalizes on each and every moment. I'm glad that he is a part of our team.”
Shreyas Iyer also explained his decision to give the final over to mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy when RR needed 9 runs to win the contest.
“Since he (Buttler) was striking it so well, I thought let’s take pace off the ball and gave it to Chakaravarthy and it’s high pressure when you have five fielders inside the circle, you basically don’t have idea where to bowl. It’s just about relaxing and rejuvenating, it was very humid as well today. It's important to learn from our mistakes and bounce back. We have a few days break. At the end of the day, it was a great game, a few overs here and there but I’m really proud of the boys," Iyer remarked.
Despite the defeat, KKR held onto the second spot in the 10-team points table. They will next face Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Eden Gardens on Sunday (April 21).
