On 18 April 2008, Brendon McCullum gave a dream start to the Indian Premier League with a stunning 158* for Kolkata Knight Riders against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in the first ever match of the tournament.

On 16 April 2023, Venkatesh Iyer ended a long wait for a second century by a Kolkata Knight Riders batter, scoring a century against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium.

A total of 5,476 days have passed between the two centuries.

McCullum’s 158 is still considered one of the best knocks in the history of the tournament as he pulverised the RCB bowling attack that day in Bengaluru. Since then, a total of seven scores in 90s were scored by KKR batters, with Dinesh Karthik coming closest with a 97* in April 2019.

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On Sunday though, the wait was ended by Venkatesh Iyer’s 49-ball century. Having come in to bat at No 3, at the 11-over mark Iyer had scored nearly 75% off KKR’s runs, and hit 100% of the boundaries KKR had scored till then. He was hit on his knee earlier in the innings and had trouble running between the wickets, but stood upright and delivered some massive blows.

He finished with a 51-ball 104 in the end, in an innings with six fours and nine sixes.

Iyer’s knock was the second century in IPL 2023, following Harry Brook’s against KKR at Eden Gardens. It was, however, not enough for KKR as MI coasted to a win thanks to Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav’s knocks.

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IPL 2023: Ishan Kishan stars as MI defeat KKR, Venkatesh Iyer’s century in vain

Highest scores by KKR batters in IPL

Player Runs Balls SR Opposition Ground Match Date
BB McCullum 158* 73 216.43 v RCB Bengaluru 18 Apr 2008
VR Iyer 104 51 203.92 v Mumbai Wankhede 16 Apr 2023
KD Karthik 97* 50 194.00 v Royals Eden Gardens 25 Apr 2019
MK Pandey 94 50 188.00 v Kings XI Bengaluru 1 Jun 2014
CA Lynn 93* 41 226.82 v Guj Lions Rajkot 7 Apr 2017
G Gambhir 93 51 182.35 v RCB Eden Gardens 28 Apr 2012
MS Bisla 92 61 150.81 v Super Kings Chennai 28 Apr 2013
SC Ganguly 91 57 159.64 v Chargers Hyderabad 11 May 2008
G Gambhir 90* 60 150.00 v Sunrisers Hyderabad 16 Apr 2016
via ESPNCricinfo

Here are some reactions to Iyer’s knock: