Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) demolished Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets in Qualifier 1 to book a place in the final of IPL 2024 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday night. KKR chased down the modest target of 160 with 38 balls to spare.
Australian pacer Mitchell Starc blew away the SRH top-order in a three-over burst after Pat Cummins chose to bat. Starc accounted for Travis Head (0), Nitish Reddy (9) and Shahbaz Ahmed (0) to leave SRH reeling at 39/4 after five overs. Rahul Tripathi and Heinrich Klaasen staged a brief recovery by adding 62 for the fifth wicket. However, KKR were back on top once Varun Chakravarthy removed Klaasen for 32.
Tripathi, who battled hard, was run out for 55 after a mix-up with Abdul Samaad (16). Tripathi hit seven fours and a six in his 35-ball knock. SRH lost wickets in a heap to slump from 121/5 to 126/9. Cummins made 30 off 24 balls to lift them to 159 before getting out in the final over. Starc finished with figures of 3/34.
KKR openers Sunil Narine (23) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (21) added 44 off just 20 balls. Venkatesh Iyer (51 not out) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (58 not out) made it a stroll in the park as they were involved in a 97-run unbroken third-wicket stand. SRH did not help their cause with some poor catching.
The Hyderabad-side will get another chance to make it to the summit clash though. They will take on the winners of the Eliminator between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Qualifier 2 in Chennai on Friday.
