Let the party begin
An absolute rout of SRH by KKR, who have had a dominant season, raising the bar once again. They were the best batting and bowling side of the tournament. From the opening duo of Sunil Narine and Phil Salt to the six bowlers who kept doing the job match in match out. And then the Iyers in the middle, and Andre Russell, who loves the franchise for how much they have done for him, putting in his best bowling season. Everything has fallen in place for them. Now we leave them with their celebrations and you with a teaser from our final report.
Just like the 2015 World Cup final, Mitchell Starc led the rout of the second-best team of the tournament as Kolkata Knight Riders completed the most one-sided IPL final for their third title, their second in Chennai. Starc started with arguably the ball of the tournament, and the most complete attack of the tournament was too good for Sunrisers Hyderabad on a pitch that offered seam movement for at least seven overs followed by grip off the surface too. SRH were bowled out for the lowest total in an IPL final, 113, which KKR chased down with 57 balls to spare thanks to Venkatesh Iyer’s blitz of 52 off 26. Five of the six bowlers used by KKR took a wicket in their first over, including a golden duck for SRH’s talisman Travis Head to Vaibhav Arora in the second over. It is hard to find fault with SRH who had to take risks when KKR’s strategy was straightforward: once the ball is moving, just minimise bad balls and experiment less. Whenever SRH looked to force the pace, they ended up losing wickets.
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KKR win with 57 balls to spare
The chase has looked like one long celebration as Venkatesh Iyer and Rahmanullah Gurbaz first deflated SRH and then cruised through to their third title. Venkatesh ends with 52 off 26, and he has with him Shreyas Iyer, the captain who has had a tough year, losing his place in the Indian side and his annual retainer. A sweet little moment for him and his side.
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Venkatesh runs away with the powerplay
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That's Venkatesh Iyer against T Natarajan in the last over of the powerplay. He has run away to 42 off 12, and the 72 for 1 is the highest score in a powerplay in the final of the IPL.
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Venkatesh takes down Bhuvneshwar
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Venkatesh Iyer has dismantled Bhvuneshwar Kumar by stepping out and hitting him for two successive sixes. Strangely, a second match into this form of attack against Bhuvneshwar, SRH haven't brought the keeper up to keep the batters pinned in the crease. KKR 37 for 1 in three overs.
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Cummins strikes early
With the new ball expected to do something, Pat Cummins has taken the new ball with Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Sunil Narine has pulled him for a six first ball, Cummins brings third up, sends midwicket back, tucks him up, and draws a catch to deep midwicket. It is 11 for 1 in 1.2 overs.
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SRH bowled out for 113
That is the lowest total in an IPL final whether batting first or second. Andre Russell ends up with three wickets. Each of the other five bowlers has taken at least one wicket. Mitchell Starc and Vaibhav Arora were superb for five overs followed by Harshit Rana, the spinners and Russell.
You can't fault SRH here. The ball just did too much for a T20 contest. The new ball seamed and swung, the old ball gripped and turned, and KKR bowlers were just too good.
SRH are bowled out for 113 in 18.3 overs. Pat Cummins has top-scored with 24.
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Can SRH go past the lowest IPL final score?
125 The lowest score in an IPL final. Batting first, 129 is the lowest. The funny thing is, the lowest score batting first has resulted in a win, the highest in a loss. SRH are 108 for 8 in 17 overs. Cummins is their hope
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Russell the bowler's most prolific IPL
18 Number of wickets for Andre Russell this IPL, the most he has taken in any edition, going past 17 from two years ago.
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The final nail?
Heinrich Klaasen is gone too. The first wicket to fall to a slower ball tonight. Harshit Rana comes back in the 15th over, and starts off with a wide and full offbreak. To be fair to Klaasen he has to go after this as he seems to have picked it especially with mid-off up, but the ball is gripping and takes a thick inside edge to knock back the wicket. Make it 90 for 8 in the 15th over.
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Impact(less) Player
Abdul Samad falls too. A wide length ball, cross-seam, not much movement, but he just wafts at it away from the body and edges it for a catch at the wicket. It is 77 for 7 in the 13th over. KKR still have Pat Cummins to accompany Heinrich Klaasen. And he is off the mark with a boundary.
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Just a minor blip for KKR
Shiva Jayaraman doesn't have the proper noun HawkEye technology but he still has the common noun hawk eye to work with. How is this for an observation?
The IPL 2024 final has followed a near perfect script for Kolkata Knight Riders so far, apart from the last over of the powerplay bowled by Vaibhav Arora, which went for 17 runs. Three overs in quick time for pacers is perhaps not the best of ideas this IPL with temperatures soaring up around the country. More so for Arora, who had conceded 44 runs off 18 balls bowling his third over in the powerplay this IPL before this match. Overall, Arora’s third overs in this season, when he’s bowled them in the powerplay, have gone at 15.25 runs an over. He’s the most expensive of all the bowlers who’ve bowled their third over in the powerplay more than once this IPL.
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Another one bites the dust
Shahbaz Ahmed comes in at No. 7, top-edges a six off Russell, and then top-edges a sweep from well outside off for a well-judged catch for Sunil Narine at short fine leg. That's a wicket for CV Varun in his first over, fourth bowler to do so today. Make it 71 for 6 in 11.5 overs.
Now SRH will be forced to sacrifice bowling depth and get a batter in as Impact Player. And Abdul Samad it is.
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Wickets keep falling
There is just too much jeopardy in the conditions and too much quality in the KKR attack for batters to keep scoring boundaries consistently. And you can't just keep knocking around singles. In Andre Russell's first over, Aiden Markram tries to pull him but the pace off the pitch is not reliable. He ends up hitting a catch to long-on . KKR now 62 for 5 in 10.2 overs.
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Rana joins the party
Harshit Rana follows up the powerplay carnage with a threatening over of his own. After three slower ones, he ends the over with a seam-up delivery, which leaves Nitish Reddy against the angle and takes his edge. This is too good for batters who also have to look for runs. It's 47 for 4 in seven overs.
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SRH end PP on a high
1w
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Starc and Arora have bowled through the powerplay, but Aiden Markram and Nitish Reddy take the final over for plenty, ending the powerplay at 40 for 3.
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Starc takes Tripathi too
Starc is on fire. The ball has moved for four overs but at the start of the fifth he goes scrambled seam twice. Rahul Tripathi tries to flick it to the leg side but gets a massive top edge for midwicket to take. SRH are 21 for 3 in 4.2 overs.
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Arora gets Head for a golden duck
Travis Head went 11 balls without reaching the strike, and then got a corker. Vaibhav Arora, tall medium-pace with an action tailored for swing away from left-hand batters, bowled it in such a way that it ends up just outside top of off. Head followed it with hands. Edged through. SRH 6 for 2 in two overs.
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Has Starc bowled the ball of the tournament?
Forget match-ups, you can't do much about this one. Abhishek Sharma has taken first strike to keep Travis Head away from Mitchell Starc. There is swing. Late swing. Starc has started outside off and slowly worked his way close to off before bowling the unplayable ball: hits top of off after starting around leg. At Starc's pace, you can't always get forward to it. The swing is late. Almost seam. Abhishek is gone. SRH 3 for 1 in one over.
It's better than the McCullum ball in the 2015 final. Better than the one he bowled to Head in the Qualifier 1.
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SRH choose to bat first
Sunrisers Hyderabad have won the toss and elected to bat first, which is something we expected because they have been better at defending totals this IPL. Two nights ago, they defended what looked like a subpar total but the dew didn't arrive and the pitch deteriorated. They expect no dew again, and have decided to go with what has been working for them.
SRH have made one change to their XI, bringing in Shahbaz Ahmed ahead of Abdul Samad. That gives them an extra bowler should they not need any further batting depth. If Samad is not required, SRH will choose from among Umran Malik, Washington Sundar and Mayank Markande as the Impact Player based on how the pitch is going.
Kolkata Knight Riders would have chased anyway. They have been unbeaten in chases this IPL. They have made no change to their side.
Sunrisers Hyderabad Abhishek Sharma, TM Head, RA Tripathi, AK Markram, K Nitish Kumar Reddy, H Klaasen†, Shahbaz Ahmed, PJ Cummins*, B Kumar, JD Unadkat, T Natarajan
Impact Players Umran Malik, Washington Sundar, Mayank Markande, Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar
Kolkata Knight Riders Rahmanullah Gurbaz†, SP Narine, VR Iyer, SS Iyer*, RK Singh, AD Russell, Ramandeep Singh, MA Starc, VG Arora, Harshit Rana, CV Varun
Impact Players Anukul Roy, Nitish Rana, KS Bharat, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey
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KKR 2, SRH 0
1 Number of times a team has beaten the other in the final for the first time that year: MI after losing RPSG three times before the final. KKR have beaten SRH twice this year in two matches
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To potato or not to potato
Two cities that cause biryani debates: should it have potato or not? These teams' batting this IPL has been as delicious as the biryani but KKR have the extra potato in the quality of their spin duo: Sunil Narine and CV Varun. The final is being played on a red-soil pitch, which means spin will come into play. Will there be dew or not? Two sides that have raised the level of - and expectation from - T20 batting come up against each other in the final. KKR have beaten SRH twice already; can the Hyderabad side reverse it?
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