IPL 2024: KKR Into The Finals, Defeating SRH

Kolkata Knight Riders aka KKR batters didn’t let go to waste the hard work put in by the bowlers as they sauntered to 160 set by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in 13.4 overs with eight wickets in hand and reach the final of IPL 2024 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

Venkatesh Iyer and captain Shreyas Iyer blasted aggressive half-centuries as the Purple Brigade dominated SRH to triumph with 38 balls to spare.

Openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23 off 14b; 2×4, 2×6) and Sunil Narine (21 off 16b; 4×4) raced to 44 off 20 balls. The Afghan batter, replacing influential Phil Salt, commenced his knock with a cover drive off pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar before top edging Pat Cummins for a six in the next over. He then smashed Kumar for a six over long-on before hitting him for a four in the same area. Left-arm pacer T Natarajan had him caught at cover by Vijayakanth Viyaskanth while Narine was caught at mid-wicket by the same fielder off Cummins’ bowling.

When the captain joined Venkatesh in the middle, KKR still needed 93 runs and the duo blasted the SRH attack to all parts of the ground and stitched together 97 unbeaten runs in 44 balls to take the team home.

Venkatesh smashed Sri Lankan spinner Viyaskanth for two maximums over the midwicket boundary while Shreyas thumped part-time spinner Travis Head for three maximums and a four.

Earlier, Mitchell Starc’s (3/34) rhythmic pace bowling as he combined fuller-length deliveries with short ones, helped KKR bowl out SRH for 159 in 19.3 overs.

Winning the toss and batting first, SRH lost opener Travis Head for nought after he played all around a Starc delivery. His fellow opener, the hard-hitting Abhishek Sharma (3 off 4b) was caught athletically by Andre Russell at cover off a fuller delivery by Vaibhav Arora (1/17) in the next over to leave SRH reeling at 13/2.

The left-handed batter smashed the SRH bowlers for fun and displayed his six-hitting prowess by hitting 4 maximums as KKR were always at the top of the game despite losing their openers Sunil Narine (21) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23) early.

Earlier, Mitchell Starc produced a stunning opening burst of three wickets in the powerplay to break the back of SRH’s dangerous batting. They were eventually shot out for a mere 159 in 19.3 overs as the chase turned out to be a cakewalk for KKR with half-centuries from the Iyer duo.

After the match, Venkatesh was in a fun mood as he displayed his ‘mamba side’ before the interview with broadcasters. The stylish batter was standing, giving a side pose, and the camera started rolling as broadcaster Harsha Bhogle was stunned by his antics.

However, he immediately apologised to the senior broadcaster with a smile on his face.

The Madhya Pradesh batter asserted that he was a bit desperate to go out and showcase his talent in the middle as he missed being out in the middle after KKR’s last two league stage matches were washed out

“More than the confidence I was really wanting to go out and bat, we last played a game on 11th, so we all were eager to go out and showcase our talent. The wicket was really good, credit goes to our bowlers for bowling them out for 160 odd,” he told broadcasters.

Venkatesh, who is now a senior member in the KKR camp, said that the team was disappointed that the last two matches were abandoned as the momentum as the brake might have shifted the momentum from their way. “In a tournament like this, momentum is really important, we have seen that with RCB winning their matches continuously and gaining the momentum even we wanted that momentum, so we wanted to go out and wanted the rain to stop but it was disappointing,” he added.

The IPL finals will be played on 26th May and the race for the trophy will come to an end, but cricket fans no need to worry as they will be able to witness Indian cricketers together, playing for the country in ICC men’s T20 world cup starting from 2nd June this year. India’s first match in the tournament is scheduled for 5th June.