[Watch] Harshit Rana cleans up Heinrich Klaasen with trademark slower delivery to leave SRH in disarray in IPL 2024 final
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer Harshit Rana dealt SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) a dagger blow by dismissing dangerman Heinrich Klaasen in the IPL 2024 final at Chennai on May 26. Winning the toss and batting first, SRH were put under the pump from the get-go by the KKR pacers.
Coming in at 47/4, Klaasen tried to steady the ship despite wickets falling around him, moving to a run-a-ball 16 with a lone boundary. However, he went for a drive off a customary slower delivery outside off-stump from Rana, only to drag it back onto his stumps.
The South African's dismissal reduced SRH to 90/8 in the 15th over, much to the delight of Rana and the other KKR players.
Here is the video of Rana foxing Klaasen with a brilliant slower delivery:
Klaasen's 34-ball 50 against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Qualifier 2 at the same venue helped SRH advance to the final.
Despite the failure in the summit clash, the 32-year-old finished his IPL 2024 campaign with 479 runs at an average of almost 40 and a strike rate of 171.07 in 16 games.
Meanwhile, Rana has been the find of the season for KKR, with the Klaasen wicket being the 19th of his campaign.
Harshit Rana and KKR dismantle SRH for lowest-ever score in an IPL final
KKR continued their red-hot form with another sensational display with the ball, bowling SRH out for a paltry total of 113 in the 19th over. Mitchell Starc set the ball rolling once again with a peach to dismiss Abhishek Sharma in the first over.
His opening partner Vaibhav Arora was not to be left behind, removing Travis Head for a golden duck in the following over. Starc continued to dismantle SRH by dismissing Rahul Tripathi in his third over to leave them 21/3.
Harshit Rana and Varun Chakaravarthy joined the party soon, finishing with figures of 2/24 and 1/9. However, the star of the second half of the innings was West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell, finishing with outstanding figures of 3/19.
It meant SRH recorded the lowest-ever total in an IPL final, overtaking CSK's 125/9 in 2013 for the dubious record. Batting at No. 9, skipper Pat Cummins was SRH's top scorer with a 19-ball 24 and was the last batter dismissed.
Should KKR chase down the relatively easy target of 114, it will culminate a remarkable season where they topped the points table with 20 points in 14 games and become IPL champions for a third time.