People in Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team were very happy. They celebrated Andre Russell’s birthday on Monday night (April 29). This happened after they won big against Delhi Capitals (DC) in IPL 2024. Shreyas Iyer was the captain of the KKR team. His team beat DC by seven runs at Eden Gardens. This was their sixth win out of nine games this season.
The Delhi team batted first after winning the coin toss. They scored 153 runs and lost 9 wickets in 20 overs. It was a bad night for them. But Kuldeep Yadav played well. He scored 35 runs without getting out in 26 balls. This helped the Delhi team reach a good score. However, this score was not enough for their bowlers. The Kolkata team won the match easily in 16.3 overs without much trouble.
Phil Salt scored 68 runs for the Kolkata team. He batted very well and helped his team win the match. After he got out, Shreyas Iyer scored 33 runs without getting out. Venkatesh Iyer also scored 26 runs without getting out. They finished the match for the home team.
It was Andre Russell’s birthday, but he did not do much in the match. Andre Russell just bowled one over in the first part of the game. And he did not get a chance to bat when his team was trying to win the game.
After they won big against Delhi Capitals, the Kolkata team shared a video on Instagram. It showed how they celebrated Andre Russell’s birthday in their camp. The team owner Shah Rukh Khan was there too. He took pictures with Andre Russell.
Watch the Andre Russell birthday video below:
“After the powerplay the pitch became tacky”- KKR captain Shreyas Iyer after win against DC in IPL 2024
At the post-match presentation, Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Shreyas Iyer said that they first felt 200 was a par total. However, the pitch grew sticky after the powerplay in the first innings, assisting their spinners.
Shreyas reflected on his victory:
“We thought 200 will be a par score but after the powerplay the pitch became tacky and the pitch was helping the spinners. It helped us a lot while chasing. Salt is always engrossed in the game and it’s a pure bliss to watch him.”
Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas went on to praise Varun Chakravarthy, the Player of the Match, saying:
“He (Chakravarthy) wasn’t at his best in the last few games but have come back strongly today. The way he turned up today was simply brilliant. Absolutely we have been thinking right from match one to qualIfy as early as possible as anything can happen at the business end and see we can deliver at crunch situations.”
Shreyas Iyer
KKR will meet the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2024 on Friday (May 3) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.