3 things KKR needs to do right to beat SRH in IPL 2024 final
The IPL 2024 has reached its grand finale, with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) set to take on the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Chepauk in Chennai on Sunday, May 26. Once again, the two best teams in the tournament have made their way to the final.
Kolkata have already got the better of the SunRisers on two occasions this season. They won their first game of the season by beating SRH by four runs, and then defeated them again in the Qualifier 1, this time comprehensively by eight wickets.
However, Pat Cummins and company will claim that they have a better idea about the pitch at the Chepauk having just beaten the Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 37 runs in Qualifier 2. Both teams have top-quality players and predicting who has an advantage is anyone's guess.
However, here are three things KKR need to focus on if they want to repeat their feat from 12 years ago and win another IPL title in Chennai:
#3 Break the Travishek factor
The term 'Travishek' has been viral on social media throughout the IPL 2024 season because of the way SRH openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma have complemented each other. They have been the major reason for the SunRisers posting such humongous totals consistently this season.
The duo already have three partnerships of more than a hundred runs at the top and have shown how they can just take the game away in the powerplay.
KKR dismissed both the batters early in Qualifier 1 and that's exactly what they would hope to do once again to ensure they aren't blown away.
#2 Counter SRH's spin threat
The Rajasthan Royals (RR) faced a mind-boggling collapse from 65/1 to 92/6 while chasing 176 and one of the main reasons for that was their inability to counter the left-arm spin of Shahbaz Ahmed and Abhishek Sharma. Pat Cummins will try to use a similar plan against the KKR batters if the pitch once again grips and if dew doesn't play a role.
Kolkata can learn from RR's mistakes and perhaps promote left-handers Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh to counter the threat. Both are good players of spin and can neutralize that threat even if SRH add the leg-spin of Mayank Markande.
Nitish Rana is also another option, who has historically done well against off-spin too. This could be another counter to SRH potentially giving Aiden Markram a bowl looking at the left-handers.
#1 KKR's spin it to win it
One area where KKR have the edge over SRH is its spin department. The likes of Sunil Narine and local boy Varun Chakravarthy could relish the red soil pitch in Chennai which could have turn as well as bounce on offer.
The duo have suffocated the opposition and proved to be the point of difference in so many games already this season and Shreyas Iyer would know that the two spinners are his Trump cards. They can also bring in Anukul Roy or Suyash Sharma if they feel they need an extra spinner.
If Kolkata can choke the momentum of SRH's explosive batting through their spinners, that could be the biggest factor in them lifting their third IPL title.