IPL 2024 / Harshit saved 13 runs in the last over, victory snatched from SRH's mouth; Shreyas told how the tables turned

IPL 2024: Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by 4 runs in a thrilling match. Batting first, KKR team scored 208 runs, in response to which Hyderabad team was all out for 204 runs. The match could have gone either way in the last two overs. But Harshit Rana turned the match towards KKR in the last over.

39 runs needed in the last two overs

In the last two overs, Sunrisers Hyderabad needed 39 runs to win. Then IPL's most expensive player Mitchell Starc bowled the 19th over. In this over, their Hyderabad batsmen scored 26 runs. Due to this, Hyderabad needed only 13 runs to win in the last over. With this, Hyderabad's victory seemed certain.

But KKR captain Shreyas Iyer handed the ball to young Harshit Rana for the last over. Heinrich Klaasen hit a six on his very first ball. With this, KKR now had to score 7 runs in the last five balls. But then Harshit dismissed Shahbaz Ahmed on the third ball. Then he bowled Heinrich Klaasen on the fifth ball. Pat Cummins could not score any runs on the last ball. In this way, KKR team won the match by four runs and the crown of victory rested on Harshit Rana. He emerged as the biggest hero for the team.

Shreyas Iyer said this

KKR captain Shreyas Iyer said after the match that to be honest, in the last over I felt that anything could happen. They needed 13 runs and we probably didn't have the most experienced bowler bowling at that time. But I believed in him. I knew something good would happen. When Harshit was coming to bowl (20th over) he was a little nervous.

I told him that even if we lose, it is okay. You just support yourself and make sure you follow whatever I say and the messages we get from within. But I tried to calm him down as much as possible and then the rest is history.