Ahmedabad (Gujrat): Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) made short work of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) thanks to a clinical display from the bowling unit led by speedster Mitchell Starc in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Tuesday.
Mitchell Starc was the star of the show as he picked three wickets to help KKR enter the final of the cash-rich competition with a comprehensive 8-wicket win.
KKR had an easy chase of 160 in front of them and they ensured a smooth passage after early blows. Venkatesh Iyer (51 not out) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (58 not out) stitched an unbroken partnership of 97 runs for the third wicket to help them win by eight wickets and 26 balls to spare.
Earlier in the day, SRH opted to bat and the decision backfired as they were bundled out on 159 courtesy of an impressive spell from the left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc, who returned with fine figures of 3 for 34. Rahul Tripathi was the only SRH batter to score a fifty but his knock went in vain as the team failed to post a decent target.
The final will be played at the M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on May 26 and KKR await their opponents.
Updates from the second innings:
- Over 11- 13.4 (164/2)
22 runs from the first two overs of the phase and KKR are now eyeing to win the game as soon as possible. The victory looks like just a formality from here on as both the batters are well settled and the chase is within touching distance. 13 runs in the next over and the 14th one was the final nail in the coffin as Shreyas signed off the game with a six in style.
- Over 11- 13.3 (158/2)
22 runs from the first two overs of the phase and KKR are now eyeing to win the game as soon as possible. The victory looks like just a formality from here on as both the batters are well settled and the chase is within touching distance. 13 runs in the next over and the 14th one was the final nail in the coffin as Shreyas signed off the game with a six in style.
- Over 7-10 (107/2)
Sunil Narine also departed back to the crease as Cummins dismissed him with a short ball. He tried to play a pull but ended up giving a catch inside the 30-yard circle. Shreyas and Venkatesh Iyer are playing their shots and SRH needs to take a wicket as soon as possible considering the target is quite low. Venkatesh and Shreyas whacked one boundary each in the ninth over and they are accelerating the scoreboard steadily.
- Over 0-6 (63/1)
The KKR batters amassed just six in the first over from Bhuvneshwar but they started attacking from the next over. They racked up 20 runs in the second over from Cummins and the onslaught continued with 18 runs from the third over. However, Natarajan came up with a breakthrough in the fourth over as he dismissed Gurbaz with a back-of-length delivery. Venkatesh hit a couple of fours in the fifth over and SRH needs to take quick wickets to win the match.
Live updates from the first innings
- Over 16-19.3 (156)
Pat Cummins tried displaying some resistance with his knock of 30 runs from 24 deliveries. However, Russell dismissed him in the last over of the innings and a disappointing total for SRH in a crucial game like Qualifier.
- Over 11-15 (125/8)
Klaasen was looking to accelerate the scoreboard but he ended up giving a catch in the deep while facing Varun Chakaravarthy. Abdul Samad kicked off the innings with a six against Narine and the Caribbean Spinner has been quite expensive today which is an unusual occurrence. Tripathi is fighting the battle from one end but he needs support from the other to tackle SRH towards a competitive total.
Tripathi was taking his team towards a huge total but an unfortunate run-out ended his stay at the crease. A brilliant throw from Russell saw the West Indies batter walking back to the pavilion. Sanvir also followed the footsteps of the batter as he was castled by a mystery delivery from the spinner. Harshit Rana dismissed Abdul Samad next in the 15th over.
- Over 6-10 (92/4)
Rahul Tripathi has the onus on his shoulders to steady the innings and play the anchor role here. Starc exploited the seam movement with precision and troubled the opposition batters right from the start. He whacked Harshit Rana for six on the fourth delivery of the eighth over with a ramp shot. He then smacked a four against Narine in the ninth over and then Klaasen hit a six straight down the ground on the penultimate delivery. The duo is now getting into the groove and they have started middling the ball to the boundary skirtings.
- Over 0-6 (45/4)
Mitchell Starc provided the bowling side a dream start as he dismissed Travis Head with a ripper which disturbed his stumps. An absolute beauty from the left-arm seamer to get the prized scalp. Vaibhav Arora then struck in the second over as Abhishek provided a simple catch to Russell who was positioned in the cover region. Starc is getting some swing through the air and he has picked three wickets so far. SRH are suffering an innings collapse.
- Playing XI
KKR: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wicket-keeper), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer(captain), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy
SRH: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen(wicket-keeper), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins(captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, T Natarajan
- Toss
Sunrisers Hyderabad Won Toss And Chose To Bat
