KKR Cruises to IPL 2024 Final by Defeating SRH in the First Qualifier

In the first qualifier of IPL 2024, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) surged into the finals by defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) comprehensively. Under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer, KKR secured their place in the final with a dominant victory.

At the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, SRH won the toss and opted to bat first. However, KKR did not allow the typically aggressive opening pair of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma to play freely.

Mitchell Starc bowled out the local favorite Travis Head for a duck. Abhishek Sharma managed only 3 runs before being caught by Andre Russell off Vaibhav Arora’s delivery. Mitchell Starc continued his stellar performance by dismissing Nitish Kumar Reddy for 9 and Shahbaz Ahmed for 0.

With SRH struggling at 39 for 4, Heinrich Klaasen and Rahul Tripathi built a crucial partnership of 62 runs. Klaasen scored 32 runs off 21 balls, while Tripathi made 55 runs off 35 balls, including 7 fours and a six, before being run out.

Abdul Samad added 16 runs, and Pat Cummins contributed 30, but SRH fell short of a competitive total, getting all out for 159 in 19.3 overs.

Mitchell Starc was the standout bowler for KKR, claiming 3 wickets. Varun Chakravarthy took 2 wickets, while Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, and Andre Russell each took one wicket.

Chasing a target of 160, KKR's openers put up 44 runs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 23 runs off 14 balls, and Sunil Narine added 21 runs off 16 balls.

From there, Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer ensured there were no further hiccups. Venkatesh remained unbeaten on 51 off 28 balls, while Shreyas Iyer stayed not out with 58 runs off 24 balls.

KKR comfortably reached the target in just 13.4 overs, losing only 2 wickets, thus securing their spot in the IPL 2024 final.