Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) registered a convincing eight-wicket victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday (May 22). Mitchell Starc‘s outstanding bowling performance played a crucial role in propelling KKR to the IPL 2024 final. Starc’s lethal bowling, where he picked three vital wickets while maintaining an economy rate of 8.50, not only restricted SRH to a modest total but also set the tone for KKR’s dominant chase. Chasing a target of 160 runs, KKR achieved the target comfortably with 6 wickets and 38 balls to spare, thanks to stellar performances from Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer.
Early wickets derail SRH’s innings
SRH got off to a disastrous start as Travis Head departed for a golden duck in just the second ball of the innings, bowled by Starc. Abhishek Sharma also fell cheaply, caught by Andre Russell off Vaibhav Arora‘s bowling. The quick dismissals of Head and Sharma put SRH under immediate pressure, leaving them struggling at 13/2 within the first two overs.
Rahul Tripathi’s resilient knock
Rahul Tripathi emerged as the lone warrior for SRH, playing a crucial innings to stabilize the innings. He crafted a well-compiled 55 runs off 35 balls, including 7 fours and a six, anchoring the innings amidst the flurry of wickets falling at the other end. However, despite Tripathi’s efforts, SRH failed to capitalize on his innings and post a substantial total.
Middle-order struggles and late flourish
While Tripathi held one end, SRH witnessed a collapse in the middle order. Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shahbaz Ahmed and Heinrich Klaasen all failed to contribute significantly, departing for single-digit scores. Abdul Samad provided some late fireworks with a quickfire 16 off 12 balls alongside skipper Pat Cummins who made 30 runs, but his efforts were not enough to propel SRH to a challenging score as they were bundled out for 159.
Also READ: IPL 2024: Fans mercilessly roast Abdul Samad after Rahul Tripathi’s unfortunate run-out during KKR vs SRH Qualifier 1 clash
Kolkata Knight Riders’ disciplined bowling
KKR’s bowling unit put in a disciplined performance to restrict SRH to a below-par total. Starc led the attack brilliantly, claiming 3 crucial wickets. Vaibhav and Harshit Rana provided crucial breakthroughs, picking up a wicket each to keep the pressure on SRH’s batting lineup. Sunil Narine and Russell also chipped in with a wicket each, ensuring that SRH never gained momentum.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sunil Narine’s explosive start
KKR’s chase got off to a flying start, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sunil Narine providing a solid foundation. Gurbaz’s aggressive approach saw him score 23 runs off 14 balls, including 2 fours and 2 sixes. Narine supported him well with a brisk 21 off 16 balls, setting the tone for KKR’s pursuit of the target.
Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer’s dominant partnership
Following the early dismissals of Gurbaz and Narine, Venkatesh and Shreyas took charge of the innings with a sensational partnership. Venkatesh played a blistering knock, smashing 51 runs off just 28 balls, which included 5 fours and 4 sixes. His aggressive strokeplay put SRH under immense pressure and swung the momentum in KKR’s favor. Shreyas, the KKR captain, provided solid support with an explosive innings of his own, scoring an unbeaten 58 off just 24 balls. His innings was laced with 5 fours and 4 sixes, steering KKR to victory with authority. Starc was ultimately named Player of the Match for his exceptional bowling performance.
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s bowling effort
Despite a spirited effort from their bowlers, SRH struggled to contain KKR’s batting onslaught. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan managed to pick up a wicket each, but they were expensive, conceding 28 and 22 runs respectively in their 3 overs each. Pat Cummins was the most successful bowler for SRH, picking 1 wicket for 38 runs in his 3 overs. Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Travis Head also couldn’t stem the flow of runs, as KKR batters dominated the proceedings.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
What a night Mitchell Starc chose to perform for KKR.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) May 21, 2024
Mitchell Starc couldn’t have asked for a better night!! Incredible bowling this!!
— Robin Aiyuda Uthappa (@robbieuthappa) May 21, 2024
Mitchell Starc during the league stages of the World Cup: 10 wickets in 8 matches at 43.90 apiece & and economy of 6.55
Mitchell Starc during the semi and final of the World Cup: 6 wickets at 14.83 apiece & an economy of 4.45
A different beast in knockouts historically #IPL2024— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) May 21, 2024
Add another wicket to Starc in the first over…quite an important one #KKRvsSRH
— Lisa Sthalekar (@sthalekar93) May 21, 2024
Cometh the hour, cometh the man! #Starc #KKRvSRH
— Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) May 21, 2024
My name is Mitchell Starc, I am from Australia and it’s knockout match😈🥶 pic.twitter.com/eqypcHBYXv
— TukTuk Academy (@TukTuk_Academy) May 21, 2024
Mitchell Starc has been really breathing fire ever since Alyssa Healy is attending KKR matches 💜 pic.twitter.com/DUT07c9Wz3
— sohom (@AwaaraHoon) May 21, 2024
If Mitchell Starc repeats the same performance in the final, 24 crore ke upar bhi paise dene padenge.
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) May 21, 2024
Mitchell Starc dismantled SRH top-order#cricket #IPL2024 #KKRvSRH #IPLPlayoffs #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/89SBF1iTEY
— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) May 21, 2024
CHEPAUK, HERE WE COME AGAIN! 💜💜💜
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) May 21, 2024
We will be back stronger.#PlayWithFire #KKRvSRH pic.twitter.com/veb0Pfl54U
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) May 21, 2024