- Monday, June 17, 2024
KKR bowled out SRH for a paltry 113 inside 20 overs and reached the target losing just two wickets and with nearly 10 overs to spare.
By: Shubham Ghosh
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS (KKR) hammered Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets in the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday (26) to lift the crown for the third time and the first time since 2014.
The men in purple delivered with the ball after Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bat. They bowled the opponents out for just 113 inside 20 overs and overhauled the target losing just two wickets and with nearly 10 overs to score.
Venkatesh Iyer, who scored an unbeaten fifty in the first qualifier against Hyderabad in Ahmedabad on May 21, produced yet another gem of an innings to slam 52 not out in just 26 balls after KKR lost their opener Sunil Narine (six off two balls) early.
Read: Batting blitz in IPL 2024 triggers debate ahead of T20 World Cup; here’s why
Venkatesh added 91 runs with Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who made 39 runs off 32 balls, in just over seven overs to put KKR well on track for a comprehensive win.
Captain Shreyas Iyer (six not out) joined Venkatesh to complete the formality after Gurbaz fell to a controversial decision given by the third umpire who was without screen assistance due to technical reasons.
Read: Starc, Iyer dup shine as Kolkata thrash Hyderabad to reach IPL 2024 final
Cummins and spinner Shahbaz Ahmed picked the two wickets for SRH.
Earlier, SRH had a horrendous start to their innings as KKR bowlers made regular inroads, dismissing the frontline batters cheaply. Openers Abhishek Sharma (2) and Travis Head (0) and Rahul Tripathi (9) got out in no time, leaving their side reeling at 21 for 3. Cummins (24), Aiden Markram (20), Heinrich Klaasen (16) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (13) were the only batters to reach two-figure mark.
For KKR, Andre Russell took three wickets while spearhead Mitchell Starc, who decimated SRH in the qualifier with three wickets, took two, along with Harshit Rana. Seamer Vaibhav Arora and spinners Narine and Varun Chakraborty took a wicket each.
It was the third time that KKR beat Hyderabad in this year’s IPL, including the first qualifier while SRH’s 113 was the lowest total scored in an IPL final.
KKR’s previous two IPLs came in 2012 and 2014 under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir, who is the franchise’s current mentor. The 2012 crown had come at the same ground against Chennai Super Kings.
For Hyderabad, it was the second loss in three finals. They won the tournament in 2016 but lost the final in 2018 to the Super Kings.
Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan was seen at the ground along with many Indian actors and after the game, the co-owner of KKR was seen congratulating and hugging the players and support staff over the feat. His family was also present, besides Juhi Chawla, a veteran actor and also a co-owner.
