IPL 2023: Varun Chakaravarthy concedes just 3 runs in final over to help KKR win - Twitter Reacts

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Hyderabad, May 4: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy starred with the ball to defend 8 runs in the final over to help his team defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad by five runs in the reverse fixture of IPL 2023.

KKR - who suffered a defeat against SRH on their home ground at Eden Gardens - came back strongly to pocked two crucial points in the latter's backyard and avenge the defeat.

Chakaravarthy was at his miserly best and finished with impressive figures of 1/20 from his quota of four overs. The right-arm spinner bowled 50 per cent of his deliveries in gold as there were a total of 12 dot balls.

The Tamil Nadu cricketer was tasked with bowling in the death overs and didn't disappoint his captain for showing faith in him. Chakaravarthy bowled the 16th over for KKR and conceded 4 runs, in the 18th over he conceded 5 runs and in the 20th over he leaked just 3 runs to hand his team a crucial win.

To put things in better perspective, Sunrisers Hyderabad were going well in the run chase of 171 as they needed 38 from the last 30 deliveries. Chakaravarthy bowled 18 of those deliveries, 8 dots and the wicket of Abdul Samad in the final over. From his last three overs, he conceded just 8 runs.

Chakaravarthy was awarded the player of the match for his performance and showed no emotions whatsoever all through his spell. When asked about his condition while bowling the final over, the spinner admitted that his heart was beating faster but he tried to maintain calm.

During the post-match presentation, he gave a peek at his game plan in the final over and said, "My heartbeat was touching 200 in the last over, but I wanted them to make hit it to the longer part of the ground."

The little drizzle in the last few overs of the match made it even tougher to bowl and Varun said, "The ball was slipping a lot and my best bet was longer side and that was my only hope."

Speaking about his bowling performance, the Tamil Nadu spinner said, "My first over I went for 12 runs, (Aiden) Markram hit me for 2 fours and that's how the game goes."

Asked about the changes he's made this year in his game, the tweaker claimed, "Last year I was bowling around 85kmph, I was trying out many things and I realized that I needed to work on my revolutions and I did work on it."

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