TATA IPL 2024: KKR Wins Final Against SRH by 8 Wickets, Clinches Third Title
The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) secured their third IPL championship by dominating the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in all aspects of the game, achieving a commanding eight-wicket victory in the IPL 2024 final at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. KKR's bowling attack, featuring impressive performances from Andre Russell (3-19), Mitchell Starc (2-14), and Harshit Rana (2-24), restricted SRH to a mere 113 runs, marking the lowest total ever in an IPL final. In response, KKR's batting lineup, spearheaded by Venkatesh Iyer's unbeaten 52 off 26 balls, successfully chased down the target in just 10.3 overs. This win marked the second time KKR clinched an IPL title in Chennai.
Chasing 114, KKR lost Sunil Narine cheaply when he went too early in his flick off Pat Cummins and the thick leading edge was caught by deep mid-wicket after hitting a pulled six. Venkatesh launched a counter-attack by dancing down the pitch to smack Bhuvneshwar Kumar for two successive sixes after glancing him for a four to take 20 runs off the third over.
From the other end, Rahmanullah Gurbaz brought out his cut and loft to take two fours, followed by outside edges giving him two more boundaries. Venkatesh cut and pulled fiercely off T Natrajan for consecutive fours, before flicking and swiping handsomely to take six and four respectively off the left-arm pacer, as KKR reached 72/1 at the end of power-play, also the highest total in a six-over phase of the IPL finals.
Gurbaz took charge by sweeping Shahbaz Ahmed for six and then lofting the left-arm spinner for another maximum, in between pulling Jaydev Unadkat for four. However, Shahbaz had the last laugh by trapping Gurbaz lbw with a sweep. Shreyas Iyer began his innings by reverse-sweeping Shahbaz for four, while Venkatesh Iyer reached his fifty in just 24 balls and fittingly finished the chase with a single, securing KKR's third IPL title. This victory marked Shreyas Iyer's first IPL win as a captain on his second attempt, after being left out of the Test team and losing his BCCI central contract earlier this year.
