KKR vs SRH: The Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) final saw 2-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders cruise to their 3rd IPL title triumph as they thumped the SunRisers Hyderabad by 8 wickets at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on May 26.
A blockbuster start from Venkatesh 😎 pic.twitter.com/g9LvV364Or
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) May 26, 2024
Registering the lowest total ever in an IPL final, Hyderabad had a bad day at the office and couldn’t get their hands on the title for the second time this year.
KKR Bowlers Dominate Proceedings vs SRH
Opting to bat first, SRH openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma aimed to give their team a strong start in their final game of the season. However, Kolkata Knight Riders quickly took control with their star player Mitchell Starc dismissing Abhishek Sharma in the first over with a spectacular delivery that caught him off guard.
The situation worsened for the SunRisers when Travis Head was dismissed in the very next over. Vaibhav Arora bowled a brilliant delivery to send Head back to the pavilion. This triggered a collapse in SRH’s batting order, with wickets falling rapidly, leaving them struggling at 71/6 by the 11.5 over mark.
Pat Cummins’ team crumbled under pressure as the KKR bowlers dominated the early stages of the final. Cummins himself top-scored with a xx-ball xx. Andre Russell claimed 3 wickets, while Mitchell Starc and Harshit Rana each took 2. Other KKR bowlers, including Varun Chakaravarthy and Vaibhav Arora, also picked up one wicket each, eventually restricting the SunRisers to a meager 113 in their 20 overs. This is the lowest total ever in an IPL final in the history of the tournament.
At the halfway stage, the IPL 2024 final seems heavily tilted in favor of KKR, and it will be interesting to see how SunRisers Hyderabad respond to their dismal batting performance.
Venkatesh Iyer Guides KKR To 3rd Title
In reply, the KKR batters started with an aggressive intent and started to score boundaries from the get-go in order to grab a quick win. Despite losing opener Sunil Narine early at just 6 runs, it was the blazing 91-run partnership between Venkatesh Iyer and Rahmanullah Gurbaz that powered KKR to an impressive run rate on the night.
While Gurbaz scored a 31-ball 39 on the night, Venkatesh Iyer went beast mode and scored a fiery fifty for his side which made sure that there would be no slip-ups in KKR’s pursuit of their 3rd title, chasing down 114 within 11 overs on the night.
Also Read: IPL 2024 Final: KKR Bowlers Decimate SRH Batting Line-Up, Restrict Them To 113
