KKR vs SRH: Qualifier 1 of the TATA IPL 2024 took place between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad at Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday. A tight match was expected between the two best sides of the tournament. But it ended in a one-sided affair, and the two-time champion went on to qualify for the finals.
KKR dominated SRH and became the first team to make it through to the final on May 26. This has been a memorable season for KKR. They became the first team to make it through the playoffs, finish the group stage at the top, have the best NRR of all-time in IPL group stages, and now qualify for the final.
Well, the game started with SRH captain Pat Cummins winning the toss and taking the strange decision of batting first, where SRH won their last two games while chasing. Travis Head bagged his second consecutive duck. SRH lost its first four wickets for just 39 runs within the first five overs, and Starc took three of them.
Rahul Tripathi showed some fight and slammed a 29-ball fifty. But he was unlucky to get run out in an unfortunate way. After his wickets, SRH lost a few more. In the end, Pat Cummins helped SRH reach 159 runs. Chasing the target, both KKR openers got out in their twenties.
But after that, both Iyer’s added an unbeaten 97 runs in just 44 balls. KKR reached 164/2 in just 13.4 overs. They registered a thumping 8-wicket win with 38 balls to spare to storm into the final of the TATA IPL 2024. This will be the fourth final for KKR in total.
Let’s take a look at the award winners of this high-voltage thriller.
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad Award Winners, Man of the Match IPL 2024
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad EV Electric Striker of the Match
The KKR captain Shreyas Iyer played a blistering knock to take his team into the final. He smashed a 23-ball fifty and made an unbeaten 58 runs off just 24 balls, with a strike rate of 241.67, and won the EV Electric Striker of the Match award. Iyer hit three sixes and one four in the last four of the innings.
The Punch.ev Electric Striker of the Match between Kolkata Knight Riders & Sunrisers Hyderabad goes to Shreyas Iyer.#TATAIPL | #TheFinalCall | @Tataev | #PunchevElectricStriker | #BeyondEveryday | #KKRvSRH pic.twitter.com/LO5e6pBoOY
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 21, 2024
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad Fantasy Player of the Match
It was a close contest between Mitchell Starc and Shreyas Iyer, as both players collected more than 90 fantasy points in the KKR vs SRH clash. But it was Starc that won the battle with two more points and collected a total of 99 points to win the Fantasy Player of the Match award.
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad Angel One Super 6s of the Match
A total of 16 sixes were hit in the game. SRH hit six, while KKR hit 10 sixes. Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer both hit quick half-centuries and hit four sixes each in their innings. Venkatesh made 51 not out, while Shreyas Iyer scored 58 not out. So Shreyas scored the most runs and won the Angel One Super 6s of the Match award.
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad TATA Green Dot Balls of the Match
For the IPL Playoffs a new award category is introduced where the bowler with most dot balls in his bowling spell will win the TATA Green Dor Balls of the Match award. In the KKR vs SRH clash it was T. Natarajan, who won this game.
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad On-the-Go 4s of the Match
Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer both hit five boundaries each in their respective innings but it was Rahul Tripathi who hit more fours in the game. Tripathi hit a 29-ball fifty and made 55 runs off 35 balls, including seven fours and one six, at a strike rate of 157.14. He won the On-the-Go 4s of the Match award.
The RuPay on the go four of the Match between Kolkata Knight Riders & Sunrisers Hyderabad goes to Rahul Tripathi.#TATAIPL | #TheFinalCall | @RuPay_npci | #AskforRuPay | #RuPayCreditCardOnUPI | #KKRvSRH pic.twitter.com/GTn81Ia53F
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 21, 2024
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad Player of the Match
Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer played brilliantly, but it was Mitchell Starc who won the Player of the Match award for his excellent spell of 3/34. He dismissed Travis Head, Nitish Reddy, and Shahbaz Ahmed and broke the backbone of the SRH batting unit
Mitchell Starc’s stats in KKR vs SRH clash
| Overs | Wkts | Runs | Econ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 3 | 34 | 8.5 |
KKR vs SRH Key Points
SRH won the toss and chose to bat first. Fir the first time, both Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma got out for single digit scores and SRH made only 159 runs.
KKR has a decent start with both openers scoring quick 20s and then Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer scored an unbeaten fifty each to seal the deal for the team. KKR made it to their fourth IPL final while SRH will play Qualifier 2 against the winner of Eliminator.
