Kolkata Knight Riders and Indian all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer played an integral part in Lancashire’s win against Worcestershire in the One Day Cup 2024 on Wednesday, August 14 at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester.
Worcestershire needed 15 runs to win from the last two overs with 2 wickets in hand. Iyer went for two boundaries in the first couple of deliveries. When 4 runs were needed off 8 balls with two wickets in hand, Iyer picked up two consecutive wickets in two balls to lead his side to victory.
For the first wicket, Iyer bowled a short ball to Henley, who rocked back on the backfoot and tried to pull it over the deep mid-wicket boundary, but he did not time it well resulting in a simple catch. For the next wicket, Iyer bowled a straight delivery to Harry Darley and he was trapped on the pads. The umpire had no hesitancy in raising his fingers.
Venkatesh Iyer has not had a good showing in the County
Iyer signed a contract with Lancashire in July. He has been out of form for his team till now with just 68 runs scored in 5 innings at a dismal average of 13.60 and a strike rate of 80. Moreover, he has scalped three wickets in 4 innings at an average of 36.66 and an economy of 6.11.
In this match, he scored 25 runs off 42 balls with the bat and returned with figures of 2/38 with the ball. Iyer will now return back to India to participate in the Duleep Trophy. Iyer scored 370 runs in 13 innings in IPL 2024 at an average of 46.25 and helped KKR win the IPL 2024 trophy.
He will look to have a strong showing in the Duleep Trophy to force the selectors to have him in the reckoning for the national squad. Currently, Hardik Pandya does not have a proper back-up apart from Shivam Dube, who has also struggled for runs.
