Pat Cummins won the toss and chose to bat on what he thought was a ‘high-scoring pitch’, but the decision backfired as Kolkata Knight Riders fast bowlers — led by Mitchell Starc — took control 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 way for the Knights’ entry into the Indian Premier League final with an eight-wicket victory.
As a packed Narendra Modi Stadium chanted ‘ Korbo, Lorbo Jitbo’Re’ — KKR’s team song — on Tuesday, Starc was on a roll as he claimed three wickets in the powerplay to ensure the Sunrisers did not get off to a fiery start, which has been their trait so far in the tournament.
Starc justified his price tag by knocking over Travis Head for another duck on the second ball of the innings, putting KKR in command. The Australian pacer should have taken his second wicket as well when Rahul Tripathi was trapped in front when he was on 14, but KKR chose not to review. Tripathi went on to score his second fifty of the season (55, 35b) and rebuild the Sunrisers’ innings before a needless run-out ended his day and dashed the team’s hopes of scoring a big total.
HIGHLIGHTS — KKR VS SRH QUALIFIER 1
With a relentless Starc claiming two crucial wickets of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shahbaz Ahmed in two balls, SRH was reeling at 39 for 4 after five overs.
In between, young Vaibhav Arora added to SRH’s woes by dismissing in-form Abhishek Sharma, who holed out to Andre Russell at the covers. And having lost four quick wickets, Sunrisers looked in disarray before Tripathi dropped anchor and hit a few big shots en route to the team’s total of 159.
At one stage, breaching the 120-run mark looked difficult for SRH as it lost wickets at regular intervals, however, it got some momentum in the ninth over when Sunil Narine leaked 18 runs.
Kolkata Knight Riders’ Mitchell Starc picked three wickets to help KKR limit SRH to 159. | Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI/The Hindu
But it failed to capitalise as Varun Chakravarthy struck in his first over to send the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen packing for 32 off 21 deliveries, and with Impact sub Sanvir Singh unable to open his account, Sunrisers was in a shambles before skipper Cummins’ cameo of 24-ball-30 guided the team to breach the 150-run mark.
However, on a surface where the ball came onto the bat nicely, it wasn’t enough for the Sunrisers to defend. Opening the innings for the first time in the season, Rahmanullah Gurbaz looked at ease as he forged 44 runs with the seasoned Sunil Narine in just three overs to provide a steady start to the Knights before falling to T. Natarajan.
Though Narine slowed down a bit and allowed Gurbaz to take charge, he looked to rebuild the innings with Venkatesh and hit a few boundaries before Cummins cut short his stay at the crease.
However, there was no turbulence for KKR thereafter. Making the most of a couple of reprieves, the Iyers - Venkatesh and Shreyas - stitched an unbeaten 97-run partnership for the third wicket in just 44 balls and guided their team to its first IPL final since 2021.
It was a perfect partnership between the two, where one complimented the other and they seemed to be in no hurry. They kept the scoreboard ticking while ensuring at least a couple of big hits in an over, and as the SRH bowlers looked clueless, Shreyas sealed the deal with six overs to spare by picking up 22 runs off Head’s final over, courtesy three sixes and a four.
While the Knights camp celebrated the big moment with a victory lap in the presence of their owner, Shah Rukh Khan, it turned out to be a disappointing outing for Head, who hurt India in the ODI World Cup final at the same venue last year. As he struggled in every department, the Sunrisers’ hopes of booking a ticket to the final also suffered a blow.
Both teams will now travel to Chennai with a different frame of mind— SRH, hoping to bounce back in the second qualifier and KKR with a dream to lift the trophy after a decade!
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