KKR vs SRH IPL 2024 Final Highlights: All-round Knight Riders thrash Sunrisers by 8 wickets, win 3rd title

Here’s the winning moment from the IPL 2024 final, with KKR winning the tournament for the first time in a decade

The 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 moment 🏆

Champions of #TATAIPL 2024 - Kolkata Knight Riders 💜#KKRvSRH #IPLonJioCinema #IPLFinalonJioCinema pic.twitter.com/wmbNP1ZlCC

— JioHotstar Reality (@HotstarReality) May 26, 2024

After 10.3 overs, KKR 114/2 (Venkatesh Iyer 52, Shreyas Iyer (C) 6)

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS THRASH SUNRISERS HYDERABAD BY 8 WICKETS AND WIN THE IPL FOR THE THIRD TIME!

Fitting enough, it’s Venkatesh Iyer who collects the winning single, remaining unbeaten on 52 off 26 balls with fellow Iyer, skipper Shreyas, remaining unbeaten on six off three balls.

It was a clinical campaign for the Kolkata Knight Riders, who finished at the top of the points table at the end of the league stage and thrashed SRH in Qualifier 1 by eight wickets, before dishing out a similar performance in the summit clash!

After 10 overs, KKR 111/2 (Venkatesh Iyer 50, Shreyas Iyer (C) 5)

FIFTY up for Venkatesh Iyer with Kolkata Knight Riders on the verge of sealing their third IPL title! Reaches the milestone with a single off Aiden Markram, taking just 24 balls to get there. Fellow Iyer Shreyas walked out to bat after Gurbaz’s dismissal, and got off the mark right away with a boundary. KKR just three runs away from victory at the halfway stage.

OUT! Rahmanullah Gurbaz doesn’t get to finish the match for his side after all as he ends up getting trapped leg-before by Shahbaz Ahmed on 39. The Afghan was attempting to sweep the ball towards fine leg but apparently missed the ball and was hit on the pad bang in front of the stumps. Gurbaz reviews, but UltraEdge and HawkEye unavailable at the moment so he has no option but to walk off. KKR 102/2; need 12 off 67

Gurbaz LBW Shahbaz 39(32)

After 8 overs, KKR 93/1 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk) 33, Venkatesh Iyer 44)

Spin introduced for the first time after the powerplay with Shahbaz Ahmed — SRH’s standout performer in their 36-run victory over Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 — bowling the seventh over. Four byes added to the KKR total in the second delivery after the ball beats everything on its way to the fine leg fence, from the batter’s inside edge and the stumps to the keeper’s glove. SIX! The Afghan keeper-batter shuffles to his right and slog-sweeps the ball towards the fine leg boundary, where it lands on the advertising cushion. 12 added to the KKR total in Shahbaz’s first over, though only seven are credited to the bowler. Left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat is introduced for the first time from the other end and he’s off to a relatively tidy start. Concedes five in the first three balls before Gurbaz smashes the ball towards the midwicket fence with a well-timed pull that takes him into the 30s.

After 6 overs, KKR 72/1 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk) 21, Venkatesh Iyer 40)

FOUR! FOUR! SIX! FOUR! It’s absolute carnage at Chepauk at the moment! Venkatesh Iyer’s collecting boundaries with ease at the same venue where the Sunrisers batters had struggled to score runs earlier this evening!

He smashes Natarajan for back-to-back fours at the start of the final powerplay over, cutting the first delivery behind square before pulling the next one in front of it — both bowled slightly short of length. Venkatesh then picks an off-cutter bowled down leg, smacking it into the stands beyond deep square leg. Venkatesh piles further misery on the left-arm pacer with a four in the fourth delivery, this time toe-ending it towards wide third man while attempting to slog it in the opposite direction.

Second 20-run over inside the powerplay, as KKR race to 72/1 after six overs — 32 more than what the Sunrisers had managed at the same stage. They need just 42 more to win off 14 overs with nine wickets in hand.

After 5 overs, KKR 52/1 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk) 20, Venkatesh Iyer 21)

Change of ends for skipper Cummins, who replaces Bhuvneshwar in the attack after the latter went for 20 in his second over. FOUR! Gurbaz collects a boundary at the start of the fifth over, guiding a short-of-length ball towards the fine-leg fence to bring up Kolkata’s fifty inside five overs! SRH needed to rip through the KKR top-order if they were to have a shot at pulling off an unlikely victory. Instead, the Knight Riders have recovered from Narine’s dismissal in style! Cummins keeps it tidy in the remainder of the over after getting hit for a boundary, conceding just two singles.

After 4 overs, KKR 46/1 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk) 15, Venkatesh Iyer 20)

FOUR! Streaky boundary for Gurbaz off T Natarajan in the left-arm pacer’s first legal delivery of the evening as he plays this with soft hands to guide the ball through the gap between slip and short third. Natarajan had bowled a wide down leg in the previous delivery. Outstanding piece of fielding by Nitish Reddy at cover in the fourth ball of the over as he puts in a slide and nearly runs Gurbaz out at the non-striker’s end with a direct hit. Nine off the over.

After 3 overs, KKR 37/1 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk) 9, Venkatesh Iyer 19)

FOUR! SIX! SIX! Venkatesh Iyer tees off after getting on strike for the first time today, smashing 16 off the first three deliveries in Bhuvneshwar’s second over. The seasoned pacer starts with a pacer fired down leg that Venkatesh promptly glances towards the fine leg fence. That is followed by back-to-back maximums down the ground, the first one a flat hit and the second one a mighty 93-metre hit into the Chepauk first tier! Iyer and Gurbaz collect a single each before the former pinches a brace in the final ball, resulting in a 20-run over for Bhuvneshwar — one that definitely takes pressure off the Knight Riders after Cummins’ dismissal of Narine.

After 3 overs, KKR 37/1 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk) 9, Venkatesh Iyer 19)

FOUR! SIX! SIX! Venkatesh Iyer tees off after getting on strike for the first time today, smashing 16 off the first three deliveries in Bhuvneshwar’s second over. The seasoned pacer starts with a pacer fired down leg that Venkatesh promptly glances towards the fine leg fence. That is followed by back-to-back maximums down the ground, the first one a flat hit and the second one a mighty 93-metre hit into the Chepauk first tier! Iyer and Gurbaz collect a single each before the former pinches a brace in the final ball, resulting in a 20-run over for Bhuvneshwar — one that definitely takes pressure off the Knight Riders after Cummins’ dismissal of Narine.

After 18.3 overs, SRH 113 (Bhuvneshwar Kumar 0, )

OUT! Sunrisers Hyderabad have been bowled out for a paltry 113 — the lowest team total in an IPL final, beating Chennai Super Kings’ 125/9 against Mumbai Indians in 2013!

Skipper Cummins is the last batter to fall and this time Starc doesn’t drop his compatriot at long on after the former attempts to smash the ball down the ground. Dre Russ grabs the final wicket to finish the pick of the bowlers with superb figures of 3/19.

Cummins c Starc b Russell 24(19)

After 18 overs, SRH 113/9 (Pat Cummins (C) 24, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 0)

OUT! Sunil Narine too has a wicket now, which means every KKR bowler in action this evening has had at least one wicket to his name! Unadkat was dismissed twice in that delivery; not only was he trapped leg-before while attempting to defend the ball, the ball had also clipped the bail, only to refuse to budge. Umpire Nitin Menon had initially shook his head, prompting KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer to signal for the review. They get three reds on HawkEye. Only an inside edge would’ve saved Chakravarthy and unfortunately for him, there wasn’t any spike whatsoever on UltraEdge. Narine signs off in his typical economical fashion with 1/16 from four overs.

Unadkat LBW Narine 4(11)

After 17 overs, SRH 108/8 (Pat Cummins (C) 20, Jaydev Unadkat 3)

SIX! SRH skipper Cummins goes inside out towards deep extra cover, where Andre Russell puts in a slide but is a tad late in throwing the ball back inside the playing area before his foot touches the rope. The Sunrisers go past 100 in the 17th over, and Cummins will be hoping to get them to a total in the range of 130-140 from here. Rana signs off with figures of 2/24 which includes a wicket-maiden.

After 16overs, SRH 98/8 (Pat Cummins (C) 11, Jaydev Unadkat 2)

Outstanding third over from Harshit Rana as he bowls out a wicket maiden, getting rid of Klaasen in the first delivery and bowling five dots in the remainder of the over. DROPPED! Cummins miscues the ball towards long on while attempting to smash Narine down the ground, only for his compatriot Starc to put down a simple chance in front of the boundary rope. We haven’t seen too many misfields from the Knight Riders in the last couple of games so this one does stick out. Umpire signals timeout at the end of the 16th over.

BOWLED! Off-cutter from Rana, who returns to the attack in the 15th over, and Klaasen ends up chopping the ball onto the stumps while attempting to drive it through the cover region. He departs for an uncharacteristic 16 off just 17 balls, and the Sunrisers are on the verge of getting shot out now. SRH 90/8

Klaasen b Rana 16(17)

After 14 overs, SRH 90/7 (Heinrich Klaasen (WK) 16, Pat Cummins (C) 9)

Skipper Pat Cummins joins Klaasen at the centre, and the two are Sunrisers’ last hope at pulling them out of the muddle that they find themselves stuck in at the moment and post a respectable total on the board. Cummins begins with a boundary, cutting a short, wide delivery from Russell outside off and guiding it behind point. Russell concedes 10 in his second over while dismissing Abdul Samad. Chakravarthy continues from the other end and concedes eight off his second over, including a boundary to Cummins in the first delivery.

OUT! Two wickets for Dre Russ in as many overs as Impact Player Abdul Samad perishes while poking at a full delivery outside off, getting a thick outside edge. Excellent catch by Gurbaz as he leaps to his right in a flash. The Sunrisers are seven down now and are in danger of getting shot out for less than 100. SRH 77/7

Samad c Gurbaz b Russell 4(4)

After 12 overs, SRH 72/6 (Heinrich Klaasen 12, Abdul Samad 1)

OUT! And now it’s Varun Chakravarthy’s turn to join the wicket-takers’ list today as Shahbaz Ahmed perishes while attempting to sweep the leg-spinner, getting a thick top-edge that results in a simple catch for Narine at short leg, leaving the Sunrisers six down with just 71 on the board.

Shahbaz c Narine b Chakravarthy 8(7)

OUT! Massive blow to the Sunrisers’ hopes of a recovery as Aiden Markram, who was starting to get settled at the centre, holes out to Mitchell Starc at long on while attempting to clear the rope as Andre Russell strikes in his first over of the evening! The Sunrisers have now lost half of their side with a little more than 60 on the board. SRH 62/5

Markram c Starc b Russell 20(23)

After 10 overs, SRH 61/4 (Aiden Markram 20, Heinrich Klaasen 10)

Rana once again concedes a boundary at the start of the over, with new batter Klaasen getting an outside edge that carries through the vacant slip region and all the way to the third man fence. The pacer, however, keeps it tidy for the remainder of the over by conceding three more singles. Narine, meanwhile, continues to bowl tidy from the other end, conceding just three singles as SRH crawl to 61/4 at the halfway stage of the innings.

After 8 overs, SRH 51/4 (Aiden Markram 18, Heinrich Klaasen 2)

Change from both ends after the conclusion of the powerplay, with the strategic timeout taken at the end of the seventh over. Harshit Rana is introduced in the seventh over and Nitish Reddy welcomes him into the attack with a boundary, firmly cutting a short, wide delivery outside off. Rana responds later in the over by having Reddy caught-behind with an away-swinger that’s bowled slightly fuller. He had bowled short in the first half of the over, followed by a couple of slower deliveries later, perfectly setting Reddy up for the variation. Sunil Narine is introduced from the other end and concedes just four singles in a tidy first over, which help SRH go past 50.

OUT! The procession continues at Chepauk as Nitish Reddy is caught-behind in the final delivery of Harshit Rana’s first over, the latter becoming the latest KKR bowler to get his name on the wickets column. And once again it’s the away-swinger that helps a KKR pacer get a wicket. SRH 47/4 after 7

Reddy c Gurbaz b Rana 13(10)

After 6 overs, SRH 40/3 (Aiden Markram 15, Nitish Reddy 8)

FOUR! FOUR! Markram is served consecutive short-of-length balls outside off by Arora, and easily dispatches them towards the extra cover boundary for a four in the first two deliveries of the over. SIX! Reddy later pulls a short-of-length ball fired down leg towards the stands beyond the long leg fence to collect the first maximum of the SRH innings. Big over for the Sunrisers, just what they needed after losing their top three inside the first five overs, with 17 coming off it. SRH collect 40 in the powerplay while losing three wickets.

After 5 overs, SRH 23/3 (Aiden Markram 6, Nitish Reddy 1)

OUT! The Sunrisers have now lost their top three inside the first five overs as Rahul Tripathi ends up getting a thick top-edge while attempting to guide the ball through the leg side. Starc had produced a hint of away movement on the delivery which resulted in the ball connecting with the outer edge of the bat instead of the middle. Ramandeep Singh settles under the ball and completes a fine catch near square leg. SRH in deep trouble, and it will take a special knock from Markram, Reddy, Klaasen and the rest of the batting order for them to post a competitive score from here.

Tripathi c Ramandeep b Starc 9(13)

After 4 overs, SRH 21/2 (Rahul Tripathi 9, Aiden Markram 5)

Arora’s a bit wayward in his second over, conceding three wides in a six-run over including back-to-back wides at the start of the over. Unlike Starc in the third over, though, he doesn’t concede a boundary.

After 3 overs, SRH 15/2 (Rahul Tripathi 7, Aiden Markram 4)

Some respite for the Sunrisers after losing an opener in each of their first two overs, as Tripathi and new batter Aiden Markram collect a boundary each in Starc’s second over, in which the left-arm quick goes for nine runs. While Tripathi flicks the first delivery away towards the long leg fence, Markram got a thick outside edge in the fourth delivery that sent the ball racing away to the third man fence.

After 2 overs, SRH 6/2 (Rahul Tripathi 2, )

OUT! It’s a dream start for the Knight Riders in the big final as Vaibhav Arora has Travis Head caught-behind in the very next over after Starc castles Abhishek! And it’s the away-swinger that once again does the job, with Head getting a faint nick that results in an easy catch for keeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The Aussie departs for another duck, this time off the first delivery! SRH have lost both openers inside the first two overs! And this isn’t even the black soil track from Qualifier 1 that had plenty of support for the bowlers.

Head c Gurbaz b Arora 0(1)

After 1 over, SRH 3/1 (Travis Head 0, Rahul Tripathi 1)

Starc starts off with an away-swinger that Abhishek swings his bat at, but misses completely. Abhishek does get bat on ball two balls later, but it’s only a mishit that lands short of Andre Russell at cover. Much better connection by Abhishek in the fourth delivery as he steers a full delivery behind point, and he nearly is run-out at the striker’s end after dashing back for a second. Starc then castles another left-handed SRH opener in the first over of the innings for the second time in as many matches — getting rid of Abhishek Sharma this time. Rahul Tripathi is the new man in and he gets off the mark right away with a single.

BOWLED! Mitchell Starc rattles the stumps in the very first innings for the second time in as many matches! And it’s a left-handed Sunrisrs Hyderabad opener who has to march back to the dugout once again! Only this time it’s Abhishek Sharma who gets the marching orders instead of Travis Head. Another length ball from the left-arm quick that turns away after pitching along middle, beating the batter’s defence completely and rattling the stumps as a result. SRH 2/1

Abhishek b Starc 2(5)

Travis Head walks out to open the Sunrisers Hyderabad innings along side Abhishek Sharma, with KKR pacer Mitchell Starc set to bowl the first over.

And interestingly, it’s Abhishek and not Head who’s on strike for the first delivery.

Teams:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(wk), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan

Pat Cummins, SRH captain: “Looks like a good wicket, never good at reading wickets. But this looks fine. There was no dew the other night, doesn’t seem there will be today, but who knows. We are playing a particular style, won’t work every time but when it does, it will be damaging. Good to be back here. It is a different soil, but you are asking the wrong bloke. Shahbaz comes in for Samad.”

Shreyas Iyer, KKR captain: “We would have bowled. You have a fair idea of how the wicket will play. This is completely different soil. We need to stay in the present, tick all the boxes. It’s jittery in the dressing room, quite a few individuals who are playing the final for the first time. Same team.”

What are the strengths that carried KKR and SRH into the final? And what are some of the areas where they have had fallen short?

**Click here to read KKR’s strengths and weaknesses**   |   **Click here to read SRH’s strengths and weaknesses**

Matthew Hayden analyses the Chepauk pitch:

“The red clay tends to have a lot more bounce than the black one. I think it could be a 180-190-pitch. There is not going to be a lot of spin. The cutters will play a part for seamers.”