Shreyas Iyer to Harshit Rana before final over: 'Even if we lose, it's fine'

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Shreyas Iyer admitted to having nerves when Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Heinrich Klassen was going hammer and tongs in pursuit of a stiff 209-run target in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday.

Chasing 209 to win, Klassen (63 off 29 balls) single-handedly brought SRH into the game before eventually falling short by four runs . “Right from the 17th over, I had butterflies in the stomach! To be honest, I thought anything can happen in the last over,” Iyer said.

SRH needed 13 runs from the last six balls and odds were stacked in Hyderabad’s favour with Klassen and Shahbaz Ahmed in the middle. Iyer decided to throw the ball to young Harshit Rana and he didn’t disappoint.

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Rana dismissed both Klaasen and Ahmed to stifle SRH. “Harshit was a bit nervous when he was coming to bowl (the last over). I told him, ‘Even if we lose, it’s fine’. I tried to calm him down as much as possible.

“They needed 13 runs and we probably didn’t have the most experienced bowler bowling at that particular time. But I had that belief in him. I knew that something [good] would happen.”

This is the time where he could become a hero. That’s what I told him. ‘Back yourself. No matter what happens in this situation, we’re going to back you’.

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“To be honest, Harshit was a bit nervous when he was coming to bowl [the 20th over]. I looked into his eyes and I told him ’this is your moment, buddy. You need to make the best use of it and don’t think much about it’.

Andre Russell, who smashed an unbeaten 64 off 25 to take KKR to 208 after walking in at 119/6, praised Harshit’s attitude.

“I think his body language was on point in the last over; he wanted the ball,” Russell said. “That is the body language we all need as professionals. If he was shying away from it, it could have gone their way.

“He told me that he wanted the last over. So he claimed it and he did deliver for us. With the first ball gone for six, still there was some doubt there, but you know he came back strong and he got the job done.”

Harshit finished the contest with career-best T20 figures of 3/33.

SRH captain Pat Cummins said he never thought they had a chance of even getting close if not for Klassen’s knock, who was ably supported by Ahmed (16 off 5). “Close game in the end, wonderful game of cricket. Unfortunately, didn’t go our way. I thought for the most part, really happy with how we bowled,” he said.

“It’s one of those games, goes one way or the other, amazing job by Klaas (Klaasen) and Shahbaz to get us back into the game and get us into that position. Who would have thought we’d get that close.

“Unfortunately, a little bit too much. In a game where we didn’t really pull it all together. We still almost competed against a very good side at their home venue, lots to be encouraged by, lot of good performers, a couple of points to work on also,” Cummins added.

Cummins said Russell took the game away from SRH with his batting exploits. Russell was at his destructive best, smashing seven sixes and three fours enroute his unbeaten 25-ball 64.

“Obviously, Dre Russ (Russell) at the end does what Dre Russ does, he’s pretty hard to contain. Overall, I thought we did a pretty good job,” he said.

“You do your planning, you try to execute your best but a pretty tough guy to bowl to, played some good shots, couple of balls maybe we could have bowled a little bit differently but the toughest job in cricket is bowling at someone like that in the end.”