KKR vs SRH, Qualifier 1: Who won yesterday's match in IPL 2024?
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets in yesterday's IPL 2024 Qualifier 1 match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. With the dominating triumph, KKR confirmed their place in the IPL 2024 final.
Asked to bowl first, Kolkata came up with a clinical effort to restrict the dangerous Hyderabad batting line-up to 159 as Mitchell Starc claimed 3-34. Venkatesh Iyer (51* off 28) and Shreyas Iyer (58* off 24) then added a whirlwind 97* for the third wicket as Kolkata Knight Riders cruised to victory in 13.4 overs.
Starc got KKR off to a sensational start, knocking over his Aussie teammate Travis Head (0) with a length ball that shaped away slightly. Head walked back registering his second consecutive duck in IPL 2024. In a double whammy for SRH, Abhishek Sharma (3) was caught at cover by a leaping Andre Russell as he miscued a full ball from Vaibhav Arora.
Nitish Kumar Reddy (9) and Shahbaz Ahmed (0) fell off consecutive deliveries to Starc as Sunrisers Hyderabad slumped to 39-4 inside five overs. Reddy top-edged a pull, while Shahbaz dragged a length ball back onto his stumps.
Rahul Tripathi and Heinrich Klaasen lifted Hyderabad, adding 62 for the fifth wicket. However, just when SRH seemed to be getting into a decent position, Klaasen perished for 32 off 21, caught in the deep as he tried to take on Varun Chakravarthy.
Things went from bad to worse for the Sunrisers as Tripathi (55 off 35) was run out following a horrible mix-up with Abdul Samad. An excellent stop from Russell at backward point led to confusion among the batters, and Tripathi was left stranded in the middle of the pitch.
Impact Player Sanvir Singh was bowled for a golden duck by Sunil Narine, while Samad (16) miscued an off-cutter from Harshit Rana. A fighting knock from skipper Pat Cummins (30 off 24) lifted SRH to 159.
Shreyas Iyer guides KKR's chase
Chasing 160, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23 off 14) and Narine (21 off 16) got KKR off to a brisk start, adding 44 in 3.2 overs. The entertaining stand ended when Gurbaz holed out to cover trying to take on T Natarajan. Meanwhile, Narine's cameo ended when he was caught at deep midwicket off Cummins.
There was no joy for Sunrisers Hyderabad once the Kolkata openers perished, as Venkatesh and Shreyas had plenty of fun out in the middle. Both batters hammered five fours and four sixes each in their unbeaten half-centuries.
It was the Kolkata skipper who brought up the winning runs emphatically, clobbering Head for 6,4,6,6 in the 14th over.
KKR vs SRH, Qualifier 1: Who won Player of the Match in yesterday's IPL 2024 match?
Starc was sensational for KKR, claiming three big wickets in his first spell. Chakravarthy impressed again with figures of 2-26. In the chase, the two Iyers were totally dominant.
For SRH, Tripathi scored a fighting half-century. Skipper Cummins contributed a valiant 30 and picked up Narine's wicket. Starc, though, was named the Player of the Match for his sensational bowling performance.