In Pictures: KKR thump SRH by 8 wickets to lift 3rd IPL title
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) hammered Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets in the IPL 2024 final at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday, May 26. Asked to bowl first, KKR knocked over SRH for 113 in 18.3 overs and before chasing down the score in 10.3 overs. The victory at the Chepauk was the Knight Riders' third IPL title.
Kolkata got off to a stunning start as Mitchell Starc cleaned up Abhishek Sharma (2) with a beauty. The seasoned left-arm pacer got a pitch on middle and move away, squaring up the batter. Abhishek was comprehensively bowled as the ball knocked his off stump.
Travis Head then bagged his third duck in four innings. The SRH left-hander poked at a length ball from Vaibhav Arora that shaped away and perished to the first ball he faced. Sunrisers Hyderabad were 21-3 when Rahul Tripathi (9 off 13) became Starc's second victim. The right-hander got a top-edge as he attempted to flick a length ball.
Nitish Kumar Reddy (13) was the next to go, caught behind off a length ball from Harshit Rana that seamed away.
Aiden Markram (20) then dragged a pull off Andre Russell to long-on. Markram's dismissal left SRH in dire straits at 62-5. Shahbaz Ahmed (8) also perished cheaply, top-edging a sweep off Varun Chakravarthy.
Sunrisers Hyderabad brought in Abdul Samad as an Impact Player, but that misfired, as the batter was dismissed for a run-a-ball 4. Samad chased a full and wide delivery from Russell and was caught behind.
Heinrich Klaasen's resistance ended on 16 when he dragged a slower ball from KKR pacer Rana back onto his stumps. Klaasen walked back with SRH stumbling to 90-8.
Hyderabad ended up scoring an underwhelming 113 as skipper Pat Cummins contributed 24 off 19, hitting two fours and one sixes. He was the last man out, caught at long-on off Russell as Sunrisers Hyderabad registered the lowest total in an IPL final.
Chasing 114, Kolkata Knight Riders lost Sunil Narine in the second over. The left-handed batter was out second ball to Cummins immediately after hitting the SRH skipper for a six.
Narine looked to work away a length ball on leg stump but ended up getting a top edge, which was safely held by the fielder running in from deep midwicket.
Venkatesh Iyer (52* off 26) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (39 off 32), though, added 91 for the second wicket as Kolkata Knight Riders cruised towards victory. Venkatesh struck four fours and three sixes in his whirlwind knock, while Gurbaz hit five fours and two sixes.
The second-wicket partnership for KKR ended in bizarre fashion as Gurbaz was adjudged leg before to Shahbaz. The Kolkata opener went for a review, but to no avail, as ball-tracking and UltraEdge were down. The original decision of out thus stayed.
Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Shreyas Iyer (6*) then joined Venkatesh to complete the formalities.
"We played like invincibles throughout the season" - KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer lauds team
At the post-match presentation ceremony, winning captain Shreyas was full of praise for his boys on expected lines. He lauded them for playing like invincibles throughout the IPL 2024 season and coming up with some phenomenal performances.
"This is what we demanded from the team and every individual, they stood up on the right occasion. It is hard to express how we are feeling right now. The wait was so long. We played like invincibles throughout the season. There is so much to cherish right now," an elated Shreyas said after KKR's title triumph.
"It is pleasing and the performance has been flawless throughout. I am running out of words right now. We have been tremendous right from game one, and when we stepped [out] all we demanded from ourselves was to back each other no matter the situation," he added.
Meanwhile, SRH skipper Cummins admitted that they were totally outplayed by KKR on Sunday. Giving credit to the opposition for coming up with a superb bowling performance, Cummins said:
"I thought they (KKR) bowled fantastically. Unfortunately, old mate Starcy (Starc) turned it on again. Obviously, not enough tonight, (we were) totally outplayed."
Starc was named the Player of the Match for his 2-14 in three overs. His KKR teammate and all-rounder Narine was named the Player of the Tournament for scoring 488 runs and claiming 17 wickets.