Mitchell Starc's bowling heroics helped table-toppers Kolkata Knight Riders defeat in-form SunRisers Hyderabad by eight wickets in Qualifier 1 at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday to enter the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
SRH will get another chance to reach the title clash when they take on the winner of the Eliminator between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Qualifier 2 on Friday. This is the 4th time that the Knight Riders have reached an IPL final. Blown away by Starc's powerplay brilliance, Hyderabad never recovered from it as Kolkata duo Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer hit brilliant fifties to gun down the 160-run target in just 13.4 overs.
The two-time champions finished 7th in the points table last summer but the return of Gautam Gambhir as mentor helped them bounce back in sensational style this season. KKR finished as table-toppers in the points table with 20 points from 14 matches thanks to some all-round heroics from Sunil Narine, superb batting from Phil Salt and uncapped Indian pacers. IPL's most expensive buy, Mitchell Starc, justified his hefty price tag with a sensational three-wicket burst to help KKR bowl out SRH for a subpar 159 in Qualifier 1 on Tuesday. Starc delivered an early blow by dismissing Travis Head on the second ball of the game, uprooting his stumps and removing the in-form Nitish Reddy (9) and Shahbaz Ahmed (0) during the powerplay, leaving SRH reeling.
Reduced to 39/3, SRH needed a counterattack, which came from Rahul Tripathi (55 off 35). Rahul, however, did not receive sufficient support, apart from a 62-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Heinrich Klaasen. Klaasen, who scored a vital 49 in the last match, contributed 32 off 21 balls, including three fours and a six, before being dismissed by Varun Chakravarthy in the 11th over.
Facing the task of rebuilding, SRH's struggles continued when Tripathi was run out after a brilliant fielding effort from Andre Russell caught him halfway down the pitch. Abdul Samad hit a six off his first ball but couldn't sustain his resistance. Impact player Sanvir Singh was bowled by Sunil Narine (1/40) on his first ball. SRH skipper Pat Cummins played a crucial knock of 30 off 24 balls, forming a vital 33-run stand for the last wicket with Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, pushing SRH past the 150 mark. Despite their efforts, SRH fell short, with KKR firmly in control of the match.
