IPL 2024 | "I manifested this before the game": Shreyas after becoming first side to qualify for the playoffs

Kolkata Knight Riders` captain Shreyas Iyer takes a victory lap at the end of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket match against Mumbai Indians at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Pic/AFP

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Shreyas Iyer manifested to become the first team to qualify for the IPL 2024 playoffs.

After defeating Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2024 match, Kolkata Knight Riders became the first team to qualify for the playoffs of the IPL 2024.

"I manifested this before the game (on becoming the 1st side to qualify for the playoffs). Nerves were there, boys have been raising their hands and there have been many game-changers and kudos to each and every one of them," Iyer said after the match.

During the match, Hardik Pandya-led MI was performing pretty well in the first six overs of the second innings. Following that, Shreyas said, "it was nice to bounce back from that situation."

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"They were going at great guns in the first 6 overs, and to bounce back from that situation it was nice to see. It's all about understanding which bowler is doing well on that particular day, I feel both of them bowled well and my gut went with Varun (on bowling the 4th over) at that point and I backed him," he added.

Coming to the IPL 2024 match which was restricted to 16 overs per side due to the rain delay. MI captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first against KKR.

Following the early loss of openers Phil Salt and Sunil Narine, valuable knocks came from Venkatesh Iyer (42), Nitish Rana (33), Andre Russell (24) and Rinku Singh (20), which helped KKR reach 157/7 in the 20 overs.

Piyush Chawla (2/28) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/39) were the top bowlers for MI.

In the run-chase, Ishan Kishan (40) and Rohit Sharma (19) started with a fine 65-run opening stand. However, KKR soon restricted the run of flow and took wickets. Tilak Varma (32) and Naman Dhir (17) put up a fight, but MI fell short by 18 runs, ending at 139/8 in their 16 overs.

Varun Chakravarthy (2/17) was the top bowler for KKR. Andre Russell and Harshit Rana (2/34) also did fine with the ball.

KKR is at the top of the points table, with nine wins and three losses, with 18 points. MI is at the bottom with four wins and nine losses, giving them eight points.

(With ANI Inputs)