Pat Cummins received the toss and selected to bat on what he thought was a ‘high-scoring pitch’, however the choice backfired as Kolkata Knight Riders quick bowlers — led by Mitchell Starc — took management from the get-go. Later, the half-centuries by captain Shreyas Iyer (58 not out, 24b) and Venkatesh Iyer (51 not out, 28b) paved the best way for the Knights’ entry into the Indian Premier League closing with an eight-wicket victory.
As a packed Narendra Modi Stadium chanted ‘ Korbo, Lorbo Jitbo’Re’ — KKR’s staff music — on Tuesday, Starc was on a roll as he claimed three wickets within the powerplay to make sure the Sunrisers didn’t get off to a fiery begin, which has been their trait up to now within the match.
Starc justified his price ticket by knocking over Travis Head for one more duck on the second ball of the innings, placing KKR in command. The Australian pacer ought to have taken his second wicket as properly when Rahul Tripathi was trapped in entrance when he was on 14, however KKR selected to not assessment. Tripathi went on to attain his second fifty of the season (55, 35b) and rebuild the Sunrisers’ innings earlier than a pointless run-out ended his day and dashed the staff’s hopes of scoring an enormous complete.
HIGHLIGHTS — KKR VS SRH QUALIFIER 1
With a relentless Starc claiming two essential wickets of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shahbaz Ahmed in two balls, SRH was reeling at 39 for 4 after 5 overs.
In between, younger Vaibhav Arora added to SRH’s woes by dismissing in-form Abhishek Sharma, who holed out to Andre Russell on the covers. And having misplaced 4 fast wickets, Sunrisers appeared in disarray earlier than Tripathi dropped anchor and hit a couple of massive photographs en path to the staff’s complete of 159.
At one stage, breaching the 120-run mark appeared tough for SRH because it misplaced wickets at common intervals, nonetheless, it received some momentum within the ninth over when Sunil Narine leaked 18 runs.
Kolkata Knight Riders’ Mitchell Starc picked three wickets to assist KKR restrict SRH to 159.
| Photograph Credit score:
VIJAY SONEJI/The Hindu
Kolkata Knight Riders’ Mitchell Starc picked three wickets to assist KKR restrict SRH to 159.
| Photograph Credit score:
VIJAY SONEJI/The Hindu
Nevertheless it didn’t capitalise as Varun Chakravarthy struck in his first over to ship the harmful Heinrich Klaasen packing for 32 off 21 deliveries, and with Impression sub Sanvir Singh unable to open his account, Sunrisers was in a shambles earlier than skipper Cummins’ cameo of 24-ball-30 guided the staff to breach the 150-run mark.
Nonetheless, on a floor the place the ball got here onto the bat properly, it wasn’t sufficient for the Sunrisers to defend. Opening the innings for the primary time within the season, Rahmanullah Gurbaz checked out ease as he cast 44 runs with the seasoned Sunil Narine in simply three overs to offer a gentle begin to the Knights earlier than falling to T. Natarajan.
Although Narine slowed down a bit and allowed Gurbaz to take cost, he appeared to rebuild the innings with Venkatesh and hit a couple of boundaries earlier than Cummins minimize brief his keep on the crease.
Nonetheless, there was no turbulence for KKR thereafter. Profiting from a few reprieves, the Iyers – Venkatesh and Shreyas – stitched an unbeaten 97-run partnership for the third wicket in simply 44 balls and guided their staff to its first IPL closing since 2021.
It was an ideal partnership between the 2, the place one complimented the opposite they usually appeared to be in no hurry. They saved the scoreboard ticking whereas guaranteeing not less than a few massive hits in an over, and because the SRH bowlers appeared clueless, Shreyas sealed the take care of six overs to spare by selecting up 22 runs off Head’s closing over, courtesy three sixes and a 4.
Whereas the Knights camp celebrated the massive second with a victory lap within the presence of their proprietor, Shah Rukh Khan, it turned out to be a disappointing outing for Head, who harm India within the ODI World Cup closing on the similar venue final yr. As he struggled in each division, the Sunrisers’ hopes of reserving a ticket to the ultimate additionally suffered a blow.
Each groups will now journey to Chennai with a distinct way of thinking— SRH, hoping to bounce again within the second qualifier and KKR with a dream to elevate the trophy after a decade!