Venkatesh Iyer reveals how he ran onto pitch 'in chappals' after KKR's dramatic win

Kolkata Knight Riders' new find this season Venkatesh Iyer revealed how he ran onto the pitch after Rahul Tripathi hit the winning six against Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2021 Qualifier 2 against Delhi Capitals at Sharjah Cricket Stadium that earned them a place in the final on Wednesday. 

By the virtue of this win, KKR has qualified for their third IPL final and will be locking horns with Chennai Super Kings on Friday.

KKR vs DC: Venkatesh Iyer on how he celebrated Rahul Tripathi's six

When asked about his fifty celebrations (The opener's reaction after scoring a vital half-century) by KKR mentor David Hussey, Iyer said that he does not care much about the fifty celebration and instead revealed how he celebrated the team's win after Rahul Tripathi had clobbered R Ashwin for a huge six to win the contest.

"Well, fifty celebrations I don't celebrate a lot. My ways are different and there was a task at hand- to score more runs, get the team through. It is just a thumbs up (on his fifty celebration) and get back to work again and I really celebrated when Tripathi hit that six because we desperately needed that big hit and couldn't control my emotions, just ran through in these chappals and then just hugged him", said Venkatesh Iyer as quoted by IPLT20.com.

Venkatesh Iyer IPL 2021

Venkatesh Iyer has had an amazing IPL 2021 where he has amassed 320 runs averaging 40 and a strike rate of 125 from nine matches. At the same time, the southpaw has also bagged three scalps from an equal number of games. The dynamic opener scored a 41-ball 55 at a strike rate of 134.15 including four boundaries and three maximums against DC in Qualifier 2.

KKR vs DC: Kolkata make it to their third IPL final

Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and chose to field first and it looked to be the right decision given that the pitch favoured bowling heavily. Kolkata's mystery spinners performed their spell well as they restricted Delhi to 135/5 and following that, as the dew set in, Venkatesh Iyer and Shubhman Gill looked like they had guided KKR to victory.

But there was a twist in the tale as Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada forced the match to the death overs where Ravichandran Ashwin did his job well to force KKR to a point where they required six runs from two balls to secure their berth in the finals. That is when Tripathi came to the rescue and hit a magnificent six to end the match on a happy note for KKR.

Things got interesting when Kolkata who was in a position of strength at 123/1 were reduced to 130/7 and at one point, it seemed like a second straight final appearance was a forgone conclusion for the Delhi Capitals. Nonetheless, Rahul Tripathi did the unthinkable as KKR lived to fight another day.

(Image: Twitter@KKRiders/BCCI)