Harshit Rana deserves all the plaudits. The 22-year-old fast bowler successfully managed to defend 13 runs in the final over of the KKR vs SRH match. After being struck for a maximum on the first ball of the over, the equation was 7 needed off 5 balls. From there on, he sent Shahbaz Ahmed and then the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen to win a last-ball thriller for his side.
After the match, KK skipper Shreyas Iyer revealed that Harshit was nervous to come in to bowl, but his advice to the youngster worked as he kept his nerve to save 5 off the last ball. In the post-match interview, Iyer said:
“Right from the 17th over, had butterflies in my stomach. Felt anything could happen in the last over. They needed 13 runs, and we didn’t have the most experienced bowler. But I had belief in him (Harshit Rana), and I told him to back himself, and it doesn’t matter what happens. He was a bit nervous coming in, and I just looked him in the eye and told him, ‘This is your moment, buddy.’ Told him to back himself, and doesn’t matter what happens in the game.”
On Andre Russell’s single-handedly winning the match and Sunil Narine coming back to his best for KKR, he siad:
“They have such experience. Great to see Andre (Russell) perform with bat and ball, and even Sunny (Sunil Narine) was splendid with the ball. Fantastic to have them around.“
On the area of improvement in the upcoming matches of the IPL 2024 season, Shreyas Iyer said:
“Always gives you motivation when you start with a win. This game also gives us a lot of learning; there is a lot we will take from this ground. I think fielding is an area we need to improve on. It was so loud out there, it was difficult to signal to the other players from the deep.”
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