3 player battles to watch out for in KKR vs SRH, IPL 2024 Final ft. Shreyas Iyer vs Pat Cummins
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will lock horns in the IPL 2024 Final tonight. Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium will play host to this big game.
KKR will start as the favorites to win tonight because of their impressive record against SRH in the ongoing IPL season. The two franchises met twice before the final, and on both occasions, the Knight Riders emerged victorious.
The most recent match between KKR and SRH was last Tuesday, where Shreyas Iyer's magnificent half-century guided his team to a victory against Pat Cummins and co.
Five days later, Cummins and Iyer are all set to meet again for the toss. Before the IPL 2024 Final gets underway, here's a list of the three player battles which may decide the fate of this big game.
#1 Shreyas Iyer vs Pat Cummins
Six months ago, Shreyas Iyer and Pat Cummins met in the 2023 ODI World Cup Final at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Iyer was in the form of his life, and fans expected him to score big at the grandest stage. However, Cummins dismissed him caught behind for just four runs.
When Iyer sees Cummins at the toss tonight with another trophy on the line, he will likely have the flashback of what happened in Ahmedabad six months ago.
Cummins will try to execute the same game plan once again to get rid of Iyer, who smashed an impressive half-ton against SRH just five days ago in Ahmedabad. It will be interesting to see which captain wins this contest.
#2 Mitchell Starc vs Travis Head
Travis Head was the game-changer for Australia in the 2023 World Cup Final and 2023 WTC Final. Sunrisers Hyderabad fans will have high hopes from their Aussie star in tonight's IPL 2024 Final.
However, Head will have to go up against Mitchell Starc in the powerplay. Starc has tormented Head throughout his career, dismissing him for a duck on multiple occasions, including the Qualifier 1 match in Ahmedabad on Monday.
Head's dismissals against Starc have been almost identical, with the left-arm pacer being able to clean up his stumps with a delivery between full and good length. The stakes are at the highest tonight. All eyes will be on Starc when he runs in to bowl the first ball of the SRH innings to Head in the IPL 2024 Final.
#3 Rahmanullah Gurbaz vs T Natarajan
T Natarajan has done a phenomenal job for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the matches against Kolkata Knight Riders this IPL season. When the two teams met in the league stage at Eden Gardens, Natarajan returned with figures of 3/32, the best for SRH in that contest.
Last Tuesday in Ahmedabad, Natarajan was once again the most impressive SRH bowler against KKR, bagging one wicket while conceding just 22 runs. He also won the award for the Most Dot Balls bowled in the game.
On the other side, Rahmanullah Gurbaz played his first game of the tournament against Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2024 Qualifier 1. He looked in great touch but was dismissed by Natarajan for a 14-ball 23. The two players will go head-to-head again in Chennai tonight in IPL 2024 Final.