Picture : IPL / X
2012 and 2014 champions Kolkata Knight Riders added their third IPL title as they on a dramatic one- sided final outclassed Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 wickets in Chennai.
SRH skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and chose to bat first. And like the previous matches SRH to- order collapsed once again in the power plays . The famed opening duo of Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head flopped when it mattered most .
Once the duo were gone, Sharma to beauty from fiery Aussie Mitchell Starc ( 2) and Head following with ( 0) SRH were on the back- foot. Rahul Tripathi ( 9 ), Nitish Reddy ( 13) . SRH were reeling at 47-4, 7 overs . KKR right on top.
Aiden Markram with his experience was expected to play big one on big night but fell for ( 20) . Heinrich Klaasen ( 16) , Abdul Samad ( 4) , Shahbaz Ahmed ( 8) . It was surprising on big night none of the SRH batsman fired . That too in the final . Skipper Pat Cummins scored 24 towards the end but the damage was done. SRH were bowled out for 113 in 18. 3 overs – lowest score ever recorded by a team batting first in an IPL final. This surpassed the previous record of 125/9 held by Chennai Super Kings in 2013.
KKR bowlers were on fire. Led by Mitchell Starc 2/ 14 ( 3 overs) , Vaibhav Arora 1/ 24 ( 3 overs) , Harshit Rana 2/ 24 ( 4 overs) , Sunil Narine 1/ 16 ( 4 overs) , Andre Russell 3/ 19 ( 2.3 overs), Varun Chakaravarthy 1/ 9 ( 2 overs)
In reply , KKR were in a hurry and raced through. They lost Sunil Narine early for ( 6) to Pat Cummins. But then the chase was never threatened . Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz put them on course with 39 ( 32 balls, 5 fours , 2 sixes) . These were the only two KKR wickets to fall. as they raced to the title in style with Venkatesh Iyer not out 52 ( 26 balls , 4 fours, 3 sixes) and Skipper Shreyas Iyer not out 6. KKr 114/ 2 in mere 10. 3 overs.
The crowd which expected a cracking final were left let down by the quick final. It was an anti- climax .
SRH bowling : Bhuvneshwar Kumar 0/ 25 ( 2 overs) , Pat Cummins 1/ 18 ( 2 overs) , T Natarajan 0/ 29 ( 2 overs) , Shahbaz Ahmed 1/ 22( 2.3 overs) , Jaydev Unadkat 0/ 9 ( 1 over) , Aiden Markram 0/ 5 ( 1 over)
SRH finished last in 2023 ended up runners-up in 20204 under new Skipper Pat Cummins and head coach Dan Vettori. Despite falling in the final they played well to be proud of .
Gautam Gambhir who led KKR to twin victories in 2012 and 2014 now adds another one as mentor. Becomes the first player in IPL to do so.
KKR co- owner Bollywood superstar with family – wife Gauri, son Aryan, Abram, daughter Suhana did a victory lap . It was moment o rejoice for KKR. It was their knight and they stood tall.
SRH Impact Player: Abdul Samad replaces Travis Head
Man of the match: Mitchell Starc
Man of the Series: Sunil Narine
Match: IPL 2024, Final
