Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) title as they register a crushing win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the final on Sunday.
In a big final match at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, KKR delivered a commanding performance, securing eight wickets victory over the Sunrisers. This win marks KKR’s third IPL title, having previously triumphed in 2012 and 2014. Dominant throughout the tournament, KKR won nine matches in the group stage and defeated SRH itself in Qualifier 1 to earn their place in the final.
Meanwhile, SRH, the champions of the 2016 edition, faced defeat in the final for the second time, having previously lost to Chennai in 2018 and now to Kolkata. This season, SRH was unable to overcome KKR in all three of their encounters.
SRH’s decision to bat first backfired as they were bowled out for just 113 in 18.3 overs. They lost their dangerous openers, Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, in the first and second overs respectively, and the wickets kept falling at regular intervals. Unable to build any substantial partnerships, SRH struggled throughout their innings. Captain Pat Cummins coming to bat at no.9 top scored with 24 runs. Aiden Markram made 20 whereas Klaasen scored 16.
For KKR, Andre Russel took three wickets whilst Starc and Harshit Rana bagged two wickets each with a healthy economy.
In response, KKR chased the total in just 10.3 overs losing only two wickets. They lost their opener Sunil Narine in the second over but that didn’t matter to Gurbaz and Venkatesh Iyer who added scintillating 91 runs for the second wicket. Gurbaz notched up 39 runs whereas Venkatesh scored the winning runs and remained unbeaten for 26-ball 52. Skipper Shreyas Iyer scored not out six runs.
