Venkatesh Iyer ends 15-year-long wait for Kolkata Knight Riders; Twitterati hail KKR opener's historic feat

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Mumbai, Apr 16: Kolkata Knight Riders' batter Venkatesh Iyer on Sunday (April 16) created history after slamming his maiden IPL century and became only the second batter in KKR's history to notch up a ton in the league.

The left-handed tall batter from Madhya Pradesh - who opened the batting for KKR against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai - is the only cricketer after Brendon McCullum - who notched up a ton in IPL 2008.

McCullum - while playing for KKR in the very first match in the history of the league - scored a quickfire 158* off 73 balls against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). His knock was laced with 10 fours and 13 sixes in that innings as KKR posted 222/3 in the stipulated 20 overs.

Venkatesh Iyer ends the wait for KKR

Iyer - who opened the batting for KKR - was the lone warrior for the Knight Riders as they managed to post 185 for the loss of 6 wickets in the 20 overs after being invited to bat first.

The tall cricketer constructed his innings brilliantly as he slammed his maiden IPL century off 49 balls. His knock (104 off 51 balls) was studded with six fours and nine sixes and scored at a strike rate of 203.92.

With his performance, the Madhya Pradesh cricketer has also topped the Orange Cap standings. Prior to this match, Iyer had scored 130 runs in 4 matches. Before this, he played a knock of 83 off 40 balls in the game against Gujarat Titans.

Highest individual scores for KKR in IPL

158* (73) - Brendon McCullum vs RCB, Bengaluru, 2008

104(51) - Venkatesh Iyer vs MI, Mumbai WS, 2023

97*(50) - Dinesh Karthik vs RR, Kolkata, 2019

94(50) - Manish Pandey vs PBKS, Bengaluru, 2014 (final)

93*(41) - Chris Lynn vs GL, Rajkot, 2017

Here's how fans reacted to Venkatesh Iyer's knock