"I Looked Into His Eyes And Told...": KKR Captain Shreyas Iyer's Message Before Harshit Rana Last-Over Heroics

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Shreyas Iyer on Saturday admitted his wobbling nerves when Sunrisers Hyderabad's Heinrich Klassen was going ballistic in pursuit of a stiff 209-run target in an IPL match here on Saturday. Chasing a stiff 209, Klassen (63 off 29b) single-handedly brought SRH within sniffing distance of an improbable win before eventually falling short by four runs. "Right from the 17th over, I had butterflies in the stomach! To be honest, I thought anything can happen in the last over," Iyer said.

SRH needed 13 runs off the last over and odds were in their favour with a red-hot Klassen and Shahbaz Ahmed at the crease.

But Iyer decided to throw the ball to young Harshit Rana and he didn't disappoint either. Rana dismissed both Klaasen and Ahmed to stifle SRH.

"Harshit was a bit nervous when he was coming to bowl (the last over). I told him, 'Even if we lose, it's fine'. I tried to calm him down as much as possible.

"(Sunil) Narine and (Andre) Russell have got a lot of experience. I am elated to see how Russell performed with bat and ball. Sunny (Narine) executed well.

"It is a luxury to have them in the team. Whenever you start with a win, it gives you motivation. There are areas we need to improve on as a team - fielding is one of them!" SRH skipper Pat Cummins said he never thought they would come so close while chasing an imposing 209 if not for Klassen's terrific knock, who was ably supported by Ahmed (16 off 5).

"Close game in the end, wonderful game of cricket. Unfortunately, didn't go our way. I thought for the most part, really happy with how we bowled," he said.

"It's one of those games, goes one way or the other, amazing job by Klaas (Klaasen) and Shahbaz to get us back into the game and get us into