NEW DELHI: After Kolkata Knight Riders' impressive win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Qualifier 1, Venkatesh Iyer credited KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan's motivational pep talk which made the team pumped up to give their best in the middle.
Fast bowler Mitchell Starc delivered impressive figures of 3-34, helping KKR thrash SRH by eight wickets on Tuesday in Ahmedabad to secure a spot in the Indian Premier League final.
Kolkata bowled out Hyderabad for 159 and chased down the target with 38 balls to spare. Venkatesh Iyer and skipper Shreyas Iyer remained unbeaten on 51 and 58 respectively.
SRH will have another chance to reach the final on May 26, facing the winner of the Eliminator (RCB vs RR) in the Qualifier 2 of the league on Friday in Chennai.
Venkatesh gave credit to the bowlers saying he didn't imagine that we'd get SRH all out for 160.
"It was a bit of fun: I just wanted to go in and bat. We last played on the 11th and I wanted to showcase my talent. I didn't imagine we'd get them all out for 160. Credit to our bowlers. In a tournament like this, momentum is important. We've seen that with RCB, we wanted that and have been playing good cricket. We didn't get to play the last game but were table-toppers, that gave us confidence," Venkatesh said after the match.
"Owners have been great, SRK gave us a pep talk. We were pumped to go out and put up a good show. (On the final) Always a special opportunity. It's a dreamy movement. Coming here first in front of an amazing crowd. Now we have a realistic chance of winning too. We were raring to go out. Touchwood, all bowlers have picked wickets. We wanted to field well, Rinku has been amazing in hotspots. To go out with excitement and do it for the franchise," Venkatesh added.
