In a resounding display of cricketing mastery, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) triumphed over the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to clinch the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 title. The final, held at the iconic MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on May 26, 2024, saw KKR dismantle SRH’s formidable line-up with a dominant all-round performance, echoing their 2012 maiden title victory at the same venue. The resounding win allowed KKR to lift their third IPL trophy after successfully restricting SRH to a modest total of 113, which they chased down efficiently in just 10.3 overs with eight wickets in hand.
The match began with SRH winning the toss and electing to bat first, a decision the KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer admitted he would have preferred, as he wanted his bowlers to make early inroads. And, indeed, the KKR bowlers validated his faith. Leading from the front was Mitchell Starc, who had been pivotal in the teams’ previous encounters. Starc, who was named Player of the Match, spearheaded a relentless bowling attack which saw SRH struggling from the onset.
Starc set the tone of the match right in the first over. Bowling with precision, he asked SRH opener Abhishek Sharma difficult questions before producing a near-perfect delivery that pitched around middle-stump and just slightly deviated to hit the top off. This initial breakthrough reverberated through the SRH camp, and Vaibhav Arora compounded their woes by dismissing Travis Head, another key opener, on the very next ball he faced, courtesy of a sharp edge to the wicketkeeper. With both openers back in the dugout for six, SRH found themselves in early tatters.
With the early shocks setting the rhythm, KKR’s bowlers kept the pressure throughout the powerplay, conceding boundaries sparingly. SRH managed their first boundary only in the third over, before losing another crucial wicket when Starc returned and induced Rahul Tripathi into a mistimed shot that was comfortably caught in the deep during the fifth over.
A flicker of hope came for SRH during the sixth over as they racked up 17 runs off Arora, with Nitish Reddy hitting the first six of their innings. However, the respite was short-lived as KKR’s bowling squad, commanded by key contributions from Andre Russell and Harshit Rana, reasserted their grip during the middle overs. Economical spells from spin wizards Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy ensured minimal leakage of runs while maintaining rampant wicket-taking momentum.
Russell struck a fatal blow by dismissing SRH captain Aiden Markram for 20, caught by Starc at long-on.
. Soon after, Chakaravarthy removed Shahbaz Ahmed, who top-edged a catch to short fine-leg. SRH’s innings spiralled further down when Abdul Samad, brought in as the impact player, was caught behind off Russell’s fiery delivery. Heinrich Klaasen, another pivotal SRH player, was bowled by Rana in the 15th over, stalling SRH’s attempt to cross even 100 runs.
Pat Cummins, SRH’s determined warrior, provided the last stand. His innings of 24 was a brief resistance against a disciplined KKR attack. Cummins managed to steer SRH past three figures but eventually fell, finding Starc at long-on in the 19th over, effectively closing the innings at 113.
KKR’s run chase began with assertive intent. Rahmanullah Gurbaz kicked off proceedings by hitting a boundary off the second ball. While Narine, attempting to match the aggressive tempo, was dismissed early by Cummins for a boundary and a six, his departure did little to stall KKR’s progress. Venkatesh Iyer’s blazing performance saw him take the attack to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, lofting two sixes and a four in a single over, signalling KKR’s undeniable supremacy.
KKR’s fifty came inside five overs, and by the end of the powerplay, they had already reached 72 for one. Gurbaz played a calculated innings, accelerating after the powerplay. The spin assault from SRH offered little resistance as Gurbaz and Iyer took KKR past 100 inside nine overs. Gurbaz, having scored a vital 39, departed as KKR edged closer to the target.
The Iyer duo—Shreyas and Venkatesh—completed the chase. Venkatesh capped a scintillating half-century off only 24 balls and guided KKR to victory, striking the winning runs. The jubilant KKR squad sprinted onto the field to commemorate their third IPL crown, a testament to a fantastic team effort and strategic excellence in the tournament’s pinnacle showdown.