Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) clinched the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 title with a dominating all-round performance against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the final at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. In a déjà vu moment at the same ground where they clinched their maiden title in 2012, KKR delivered an impressive performance on May 26, 2024, to lift their third trophy. The KKR bowlers exhibited exceptional skill to restrict the formidable SRH batting line-up to a mere 113 runs, a target that was chased down with ease in just 10.3 overs with eight wickets to spare.
The excitement began at the toss, which SRH won and opted to bat first. KKR captain Shreyas Iyer expressed that he would have preferred to bowl first—a decision validated by his bowlers’ subsequent stellar performance. Leading from the front, Mitchell Starc, the Player of the Match from the teams’ previous encounter in Ahmedabad, set the tone with an inspired opening spell.
Reflecting on the lessons from Qualifier 1, Abhishek Sharma was tasked with taking the strike instead of Travis Head when Starc opened the bowling. Almost immediately, Starc got into his groove, generating excellent shape and testing Sharma’s technique. The fifth ball of the over was a beauty—pitching around middle-stump and shaping away delicately to clip the top of off-stump, leaving Sharma befuddled and bowled clean. This early wicket energized the KKR camp.
Vaibhav Arora then came into the attack and maintained the pressure when Travis Head faced his first ball. Arora delivered a ball that moved away, inducing an edge from Head which was comfortably taken by the wicketkeeper. With the score at six for two, KKR had swiftly destabilized SRH by removing their feared opening pair.
SRH’s progression was sluggish after the initial blows, courtesy of the disciplined bowling during the powerplay. The first boundary for SRH only arrived in the third over. Mitchell Starc wasn’t done yet; returning to bowl the fifth over, he dismissed Rahul Tripathi, who misjudged a big shot and skied the ball to mid-wicket.
Though SRH managed to score 17 runs from the sixth over bowled by Arora, which included their first six of the innings off Nitish Reddy’s bat, the reprieve was short-lived. Andre Russell and Harshit Rana came into the attack during the middle overs to dismantle SRH further.
. Russell sent Aiden Markram back to the pavilion as he holed out to Starc at long-on for 20 runs. Shahbaz Ahmed succumbed to Varun Chakaravarthy, getting caught at short fine-leg early in his innings.
KKR’s stranglehold intensified when Abdul Samad, SRH’s impact player, edged a ball from Russell to the wicketkeeper. The defining moment came when Heinrich Klaasen, who was seen as SRH’s last hope, was bowled by Rana in the 15th over with SRH barely crossing the hundred-run mark. Pat Cummins, showing some resistance, became the top-scorer with a modest 24. His innings extended SRH’s stay at the crease until the 19th over, eventually ending when Cummins found Starc at long-on again.
Set a target of 114, KKR’s chase was blazing from the outset. Rahmanullah Gurbaz began with a boundary through point off the second ball. In the following over, Sunil Narine smashed Cummins over mid-wicket for a six but perished trying to repeat the shot. Venkatesh Iyer then took center stage, launching two sixes and a four in the next over to steady any initial jitters. His dazzling aggression saw KKR’s fifty come up inside five overs. While Gurbaz played more sedately, Venkatesh continued his assault on the SRH bowlers, picking three fours and a six in T Natarajan’s over—finishing the powerplay on a high with 72 for one.
There was no faltering in KKR’s momentum post-powerplay. Gurbaz shifted gears as the spinners entered the attack, pushing KKR past the hundred-run mark within nine overs. Although Gurbaz was eventually dismissed for 39, the match was firmly in KKR’s hands. Venkatesh Iyer continued his dominant form, reaching his half-century in just 24 balls.
With the win in sight, the Iyer tandem—Shreyas and Venkatesh—steered KKR to the finish line. Venkatesh fittingly hit the winning runs, sparking jubilant celebrations as KKR secured their third IPL title. The emphatic victory not only highlighted KKR’s superior strategy and skill but also cemented their legacy as one of the most successful franchises in IPL history.