Watch: Venkatesh Iyer bowls Lancashire to victory with sensational double strike
Venkatesh Iyer took wickets off back-to-back balls and led Lancashire to a rather improbable victory.
All-rounder Venkatesh Iyer bowled Lancashire to victory in sensational fashion on Wednesday in England's domestic One Day Cup tournament against Worcestershire. Venkatesh bowled the 49th over with Worcestershire needing 16 to win off 12 balls. He ended up giving eight runs off the first two balls with four leg byes and four byes. Venkatesh then bowled two wides as well and so the tally of runs that came from just the first four balls of his over stood at a whopping 12 runs. However, Venkatesh then sensationally took two wickets off the last two balls and Lancashire won the match by three runs.
Venkatesh earlier scored 25 in 42 balls as Lancashire batted first and were all out for 237. Captain Josh Bohannon was the highest scorer with 87 runs in 123 balls. George Balderson scored 50 in 44 balls.
Venkatesh then bowled six overs in which he conceded 38 runs at an economy of 6.33. It made him the second most expensive bowler for Lancashire after Joshua Boyden who recorded figures of 2/26 in four overs. However, the wickets that Venkatesh turned out to be the ones that won his side the match. Worcestershire had the upper hand despite being down to their last two wickets, especially after Iyer's first four balls cost Lancashire 12 runs. He then swept off the remainder of the Worcestershire batting order with two wickets off the last two balls of his over.
Venkatesh Iyer to play County Championship matches in late August
Iyer, who was a member of the IPL-winning KKR side, has played two ODIs and nine T20Is for India. He has also played 20 First-Class matches, 43 List-A games. The 29-year-old joined Lancashire for a short stint comprising two Division One matches and One-Day Cup scheduled for next month. “The batting all-rounder joins the Club on an initial contract for the One-Day Cup and the following two rounds of County Championship matches in late-August,” Lancashire said on their website when announcing the signing of Iyer.
“Lancashire is a very historic county with a long history of welcoming Indian players to their Club. I am looking forward to emulating the likes of Farokh Engineer, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and most recently Washington Sundar in wearing the Red Rose colours at Old Trafford,” Iyer said in a statement.
“To test my skills in both one-day and first-class cricket in English conditions is going to really benefit my game,” he added.
