Picture : IPL / X
Two- time winners Kolkata Knight Riders powered their way into the Tata IPL 2024 final as they outplayed Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 wickets in the first Qualifier at Narendra Modi stadium, Ahmedabad.
Earlier, SRH Skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat first . And SRH got off to a horror start , Travis Head dismissed without disturbing scorers for second time in a row, This time bowled by fellow Aussie Mitchell Starc. In-from Abhishek Sharma fell for 3. SRH were rocked with total reading 13-2, 1.5 overs .
Nitish Reddy too did not last long out for 9 . Shahbaz Ahmed was out for ( 0). SRH were left tottering at 39/ 4 in 5 overs . Battling collapsed dramatically for side which has been devastating in power play in the tournament .
Rahul Tripathi played superbly for his 55 ( 35 balls 7 fours, 1 six) but was very unfortunately run-out in a terrible mix up with Abdul Samad. He was distraught with his mode of dismissal . Heinrich Klaasen was needed to stay there, the stage was set for him to play a big one but he perished after scoring 32 ( 21 balls , 3 fours, 1 six) .
Abdul Samad ( 16) impact player Sanvir Singh ( 0) followed soon . Had not skipper Pat Cummins played a important cameo towards the end SRH would have been bowled out much earlier. Cummins scored a valuable 30 ( 24 balls, 2 fours, 2 sixes) as SRH were eventually bolwed out for 159/ 10 in 19. 3 overs
KKR bowling was led by fiery Mitchell Starc who bowled with fire and finished with fine figures 3/ 34 ( 4 overs), Vaibhav Arora 1/ 17 ( 2 overs), Harshit Rana 1/ 27 ( 4 overs), Sunil Narine 1/ 40 ( 4 overs), Andre Russell 1/ 15 ( 1. 3 overs) , Varun Chakaravarthy 2/ 26 ( 4 overs)
In reply, KKR were in a tearing hurry . And were off to a flying start . KKR openers – Rahmanullah Gurbaz 23 ( 14 balls , 2 fours, 2 sixes), Sunil Narine 21 ( 16 balls, 4 fours) set the tempo racing to 44/ 1 in 3.1 overs . The duo soon fell to T Natarajan And Pat Cummins respectively but the KKR chase was not troubled at all.
Venkatesh Iyer not out 51 ( 28 balls, 5 fours , 4 sixes) and Skipper Shreyas Iyer not out 58 ( 24 balls, 5 fours, 4 sixes) powered the tea home to an emphatic win by 8 wickets . KKR reaching 164/ 2 in 13. 4 overs .
SRH Bowling : Bhuvneshwar Kumar 0/ 28 ( 3 overs) , Pat Cummins 1/ 38 ( 3 overs), T Natarajan 1/ 22 ( 3 overs) , Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 0/ 22 ( 2 overs) , Travis Head 0/ 32 ( 1. 2 overs) , Nitish Reddy 0/ 13 ( 1 over)
SRH though despite the crushing defeat have second chance to have a crack at the final as they await the winner of the eliminator between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
SRH batting let them down. The shot selection needs to be addressed .
Ultra aggression in power play if fine when it clicks but disaster when it does not . Here it was evident SRH lost four wickets in first six overs. Game was over there and then.
KKR players were ecstatic after win and team’s co-owner Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was thrilled and he did a victory lap too much to the delight of the the crowd ..
SRH Impact Player: Sanvir Singh replaces Abhishek Sharma
Match: IPL 2024, Qualifier 1
Venue: Ahmedabad | Date: May 21, 2024
