Phil Salt lauds Harshit Rana for holding his nerve in final over

While one thought 208 would be enough, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) made a match of it and pushed Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR) right till the end in Match 3 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on March 23 (Saturday). 

Heinrich Klaasen played one of the best T20 innings in recent times, smashing 63 off 29 deliveries, which included as many as eight sixes. With 13 to defend in the final over, a young Harshit Rana stepped up with the ball and took his side over the line despite conceding a six off the first delivery.

Rana used his slower balls to good effect and also got rid of the dangerous Klaasen off the penultimate ball of the match. KKR wicketkeeper-batter Phil Salt, who scored a fifty on his KKR debut was all praise for the 22-year old quick.

"The game see-sawed right through. Their batting innings, we had a few chances we didn't take. It looked like, at one point, getting to that final over would hurt us," Salt said at the post-match press conference.

"But Harshit held his nerve unbelievably well. I think we defended well, a pretty good score."

Salt also praised Andre Russell as his innings - 64* off 25 - helped KKR go past 200 in the first place. "I have played with Dre in the Hundred. He is a phenomenal ball striker, best in the world on his day. Make no bones about it, so to see him do what he did was obviously incredible. Loved watching it. But it's not a surprise to me or to anybody in the crowd watching it. When he is on, he is incredible," Salt said.

KKR sent in 26-year old Ramandeep Singh ahead of Rinku Singh and Russell and it paid off handsomely. With Salt batting well at the other end, he needed someone at the other end to give him company. Luckily for him, Ramandeep, who scored 35 off 17, did that and much more.

I told Ramandeep the same thing I told the last two batsmen: let’s take it to the 12th over and then reassess,” Salt said. 

“He played very smartly, taking the pressure off me by hitting boundaries. It was a hell of a cameo, and they put up a good partnership. When wickets are falling, stitching partnerships is crucial, and doing so on debut is very impressive.”

With a win in the bag, KKR have another five days until their next game against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday (March 29).

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