NEW DELHI: Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) bowlers blew the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) away for a record low score of 113 after which Venkatesh Iyer’s unbeaten 52 off 26 balls helped them win their third Indian Premier League (IPL) title. SRH’s explosive style of batting backfired on the biggest occasion of them all. Mitchell Starc picked two of the three wickets that SRH lost in the powerplay. They went on to lose their fourth wicket in the 10th over while Andre Russell then got the big wicket of Aiden Markram in the 11th.
The two best teams of the league stage displayed their dominance in the playoffs to reach the mega finale of IPL 2024. Two-time champions KKR didn’t complicate anything this season and played a collective brand of cricket to produce consistent results throughout the tournament. On the other hand, Sunrisers showed everyone how the fearless brand of cricket should be played in a tournament like IPL as they registered the all-time highest scores in the tournament to script history on several occasions.
However, the final will be a completely different ballgame, as both teams will be feeling some pressure to add another trophy to their cabinet. They have champion players in their dugout to guide them and help them calm their nerves, but when they go out on the field, things will change for them.
Before the start of the season, many started pointing out KKR and SRH’s record spending on Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins respectively in the IPL auction. The critics and fans were questioning the franchises’ think tank for spending over 20 crore each for the Aussie pacers.
However, they proved them wrong with their performances on the field. Starc started the tournament on a rusty note as he was getting the hang of the IPL which he was playing after many years but when it mattered the most he stood tall and produced a stellar show with the ball in the qualifier 1. On the other hand, Cummins turned out to be the inspirational leader for Sunrisers, who led his team from the front and proved why he is one of the best captains in the cricketing world at the moment.
Hyderabad beat Rajasthan Royals by 36 runs in the last qualifier in Chennai on Friday to secure a place in their third IPL final. But that win came after a crushing eight-wicket defeat by two-time champions Kolkata in the first play-off in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
SRH’s only title in the world’s most lucrative T20 tournament came in 2016 under another Australian, David Warner and the Aussie paceman will look to replicate the same.
Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer has impressed many with his captaincy attributes this season and has shown calmness while leading the side. The return of Gautam Gambhir in the KKR camp has also worked wonders for the purple outfit. The two-time IPL-winning skipper returned as a mentor and his presence changed the atmosphere as he made big decisions like promoting Sunil Narine to the opening slot and setting up a free-flowing batting line-up which can adapt to every condition as KKR lost just three matches en route to final.