Eshan Mainga poured water on Venkatesh Iyer’s fiery batting. Venkatesh came out to bat in the second innings against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to chase a huge target of 256 runs.
He started the run chase quickly, alongside Virat Kohli. Venkatesh Iyer was on the verge of getting a half-century when the SRH bowler struck. He had to go for 44 off 19.
Eshan Malinga helps SRH to get rid of Venkatesh Iyer
It was an impactful knock, and could be handy for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the later part of the innings. The 19-ball knock was decorated with four 4s and as many 6s. On the third ball of the 5th over of the second innings, the RCB batter tried to clear the rope with a pull shot but miscued the connection, and Eshan Malinga got the first breakthrough for his team.
The ball went towards wide long on, where Abhishek Sharma was posted. Abhishek took a clean catch, RCB lost their first batter of the night for 60 runs. It was a crucial wicket for Eshan Malinga and SRH.
Venkatesh Iyer was the opener for RCB along with Virat Kohli. Jacob Bethell is injured, so he missed the match. The England international has an injury in his finger, as it was informed by the RCB skipper Rajat Patidar at the toss.
Jacob Bethell struggled as an opener, who came at the slot to replace the injured Phil Salt. But the inclusion of Venkatesh proved instantly effective as he went ballistic and looked confident in the brief knock. In RCB’s previous match, which was against the Punjab Kings, he scored an unbeaten 73-run knock to help the team to defeat the Shreyas Iyer-led team.
Venkatesh Iyer helped Virat Kohli to claim another record in T20s
Before losing the wicket against Eshan Malinga, the 31-year-old batter helped Virat Kohli gain another milestone in the men’s T20 format. The RCB batting maestro now has the most 50-run partnerships.
Batters involved in most 50-plus stands in Men’s T20s
211 – Virat Kohli*
210 – Alex Hales
200 – David Warner
196 – Babar Azam
191 – Chris Gayle
Iyer intended to make an impact on every ball
Ahead of the match against the Pat Cummins-led side, Iyer sounded confident. He informed that in the dressing room, they barely talked about their IPL 2025 triumph. Iyer clearly mentioned that they are here in this season to claim another silverware. He further mentioned that their mindset was to make an impact on every ball.
“We are not talking at all in the dressing room about being defending champions. We are only chasing one more championship. We haven’t really thought about the fact that we won last year or what kind of team we are. We are only thinking about winning the championship this year… A match can completely change direction within one or two deliveries. So we are trying not to leave even that one or two-ball gap for the opposition,” Venkatesh Iyer mentioned.