In Pictures: KKR decimate SRH to clinch berth in IPL 2024 final
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) thumped Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets in Qualifier 1 of the IPL 2024 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, May 21. With the emphatic triumph, KKR sealed their place in the IPL final for the fourth time.
Bowling first after losing the toss, Kolkata Knight Riders came up with a clinical to clean up Sunrisers Hyderabad for 159 in 19.3 overs. Left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc starred with 3-34, claiming the wickets of Travis Head (0), Nitish Kumar Reddy (9) and Shahbaz Ahmed (0).
Leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy also impressed with 2-26 in four overs, while Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell chipped in with one wicket each.
Russell was also brilliant in the field. He took a good leaping catch at cover to send back Abhishek Sharma (3) and produced a brilliant save at backward point, which resulted in the run out of Rahul Tripathi (55 off 35).
Tripathi's wicket left Sunrisers Hyderabad in big trouble at 121-6 in the 14th over. Impact Player Sanvir Singh also perished for a golden duck to Sunil Narine, while Abdul Samad fell for 16.
When Bhuvneshwar Kumar was trapped leg before by Chakravarthy for a four-ball zero, SRH were in danger of getting bowled out for under 150. A good knock from skipper Pat Cummins (30 off 24), though, took them to 159.
Sunrisers Hyderabad's total, though, proved way too inadequate for Kolkata Knight Riders, who romped home in 13.4 overs.
Openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23 off 14) and Narine (21 off 16) added a brisk 44 in 3.2 overs. The first-wicket partnership ended when Gurbaz was caught at cover off T Natarajan. Narine then holed out to deep midwicket off Cummins.
At 67-2, Venkatesh Iyer (51* off 28) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (58* off 24) joined forces to take KKR over the line in thumping fashion.
The two Iyers hit five fours and four sixes in their innings. The Kolkata skipper brought up his team’s victory in style, giving Head a dose of his own medicine. Shreyas slammed the first four balls of the 14th over for 6,6,4,6 to stamp his side's authority on the game and seal their berth in the final.
Venkatesh and Shreyas added an unbroken 97 for the third wicket as Sunrisers bowlers looked completely helpless in the wake of the assault.
While Kolkata Knight Riders have progressed to the IPL 2024 final, Sunrisers Hyderabad face the winner of the Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru Eliminator in Qualifier 2.
Shreyas, Starc react to KKR's emphatic win
At the post-match presentation, KKR skipper Shreyas asserted that the unplanned break they got due to two abandoned matches in the league stage of IPL 2024 proved to be a blessing in disguise for the side.
"The rejuvenation was important for us. When you travel so much. It's important to stay in the present. Today was the day we had to maximize, we did it and that's what we thrive on," Shreyas commented.
He also praised the bowling attack for setting up the win and hailed the attitude of his bowlers.
"The way every bowler stood up to this occasion, the way they came in and took wickets, that was imperative. The attitude and approach of all bowlers was to take wickets and they did," the Kolkata captain added.
KKR left-arm pacer and Player of the Match Starc opined that it was extremely important for his side to have a good powerplay, knowing how dangerous SRH's batters can be.
The Aussie speedster, who claimed three early wickets in the game, including that to Head, commented:
"We know how important the powerplay is. These were the two sides who have dominated in the powerplay with the bat. We needed to pick early wickets and get into their middle-order.
"The way Head and Abhishek have been playing throughout the tournament, they like width and free their arms. We just tried to swing the ball and not provide them width," Starc added.
While KKR have sealed their place in the final, RR meet RCB in the Eliminator at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, May 22.