Venkatesh Iyer registered his highest score of IPL 2024 as Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Mumbai Indians by 24 runs in their IPL 2024 fixture on Saturday. The match began with MI captain Hardik Pandya winning the toss and opting to bowl. KKR had a stuttering start as their top order collapsed early.

Nuwan Thushara struck thrice to remove Phil Salt (5), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (13) and Shreyas Iyer (6). Meanwhile, Pandya got the wicket of Sunil Narine (8). With MI looking like they would wipe out KKR for a below-par score, Venkatesh came to his side's rescue and led their revival with Manish Pandey.

Iyer smacked 70 runs off 52 balls, packed with six fours and three sixes. Meanwhile, Manish justified his Impact Player role with a knock of 42 runs off 31 balls, clattering two fours and two sixes, as KKR reached 169 in 19.5 overs. For MI's bowling department, Jasprit Bumrah also took three wickets.

Chasing 170, MI also had a shaky start, with Mitchell Starc removing Ishan Kishan (13) and Rohit Sharma (11) early. Suryakumar Yadav (56) led a comeback with a half-century, but didn't receive support from other batters. For KKR, Starc took four wickets, including three in the 19th over as MI were bowled out for 145 in 18.5 overs.

Speaking after the game, Venkatesh, who was adjudged as the Player of the Match, credited Sourav Ganguly for helping him with his batting approach. Iyer revealed that he approached Ganguly, who is Delhi Capitals' Director of Cricket, for some advice. After the match, Iyer said, "I've been a huge fan of dada (Sourav Ganguly). Went to ask him about my stance and technical aspects. Was a fruitful conversation. It's coming through in my stance and other aspects in the nets."

Iyer also lauded KKR management's decision to send Manish Pandey as the Impact Player. "As a professional cricketer, I have to be flexible in terms of situation. When I started hitting the ball well, two more wickets fell and I thought I have to play the anchor role. This is the fourth or fifth time Manish has padded up. This time he got to bat. Rather than sending Russell and Ramandeep higher, better to have Manish who can play the anchor role. Ball was holding and it was a two paced wicket. I try to be a smarter cricketer. Would've been easy for me to go after Piyush Chawla and the fast bowlers. Team needed me to be there till the end," he said.

Iyer is KKR's fourth-highest run-scorer this season, with 224 runs in 10 games at a strike rate of 142.67. He has also bagged two fifties this season, and will be looking to add more runs to his overall tally.

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