Kolkata Knight Riders (114/2) thrashed Sunrisers Hyderabad (113/10) by 8 wickets in the final of IPL 2024 to clinch their third title in history. Mitchell Starc (2/14) led the charge with the ball for KKR in the first innings as Sunrisers Hyderabad were bundled out for 113 runs, which KKR chased easily with the help of a splendid half-century from Venkatesh Iyer (52/26).
Pat Cummins (24/19) won the toss and bravely decided to bat first. Starc proved his countryman’s decision wrong in his first over by dismissing Abhishek Sharma (2/5) with a peach. Hyderabad failed to handle the onslaught from Kolkata’s bowlers as Varun Arora (1/24) and Starc dismantled the team with three wickets, including Travis Head (0/1) in the powerplay.
Hyderabad batsmen did their best to slow down things in the middle overs, but Kolkata bowled out Hyderabad for just 113 runs with help from spinners and Andre Russell (3/19). There was not a single SRH batsman who reached the 30-run mark, which tells the whole story. 
With Sunil Narine (6/2) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (39/32) taking on the attack, Kolkata started in their usual manner in the chase. Narine was out for just 6 runs this time, but Venkatesh Iyer came along and destroyed Hyderabad’s bowling attack. KKR reached their target with more than 9 overs to spare thanks to Venkatesh Iyer, who scored fifty at a strike rate of over 200.
After a 10-year wait, Kolkata Knight Riders have finally won their third IPL trophy. This season is arguably their most dominant campaign ever. They deserved the title this season, and this lopsided victory in the final was the cherry on top. Sunrisers Hyderabad will likely look back on their decision to bat first on that track and wonder whether it was the right move, although ignoring the final performance, the season was memorable. In a season, scoring more than 250 runs thrice isn’t normal.
Here are five moments which defined the result.
Starc and Arora’s killer start
In the first qualifier, Kolkata Knight Riders exposed Sunrisers Hyderabad’s heavy reliance on their openers. In the final, all eyes were again on Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head’s strategies against Starc and Vaibhav Arora. They devised different plans when Abhishek took the strike against Starc, but they failed miserably. In his first over, Starc dismissed Abhishek to give KKR a dream start. From the other end, Vaibhav Arora kept the pressure on Travis Head and took his wicket to give Hyderabad a devastating blow. As Hyderabad recovered, Starc struck out Rahul Tripathi (9/13) in the third over, giving KKR a big advantage.
Russell’s middle blows
After the powerplay, Hyderabad built their innings through Aiden Markram (20/23) and Heinrich Klaasen (16/17). However, just as Klaasen and Markram were starting, Russell came in the 11th over to dismiss Markram. Since he was the last designated batsman, this was a big wicket. Klaasen was put under tremendous pressure following Markram’s wicket, resulting in him being thrown out in the 14th over. In the 13th over, Russell also dismissed Abdul Samad (4/4), sinking Hyderabad’s ship.
Harshit Rana’s class
Harshit Rana (2/24) has been Kolkata’s go-to man in every situation, and in the final, he delivered the biggest blow. After everyone got out, Hyderabad’s last hope, Heinrich Klaasen, was dismissed by Rana’s masterclass. In the 15th over, Rana deceived Klaasen with an inch-perfect slower ball to get his wicket. In the aftermath of Klaasen’s wicket, Hyderabad lost all hope of reaching a respectable target.
Venkatesh Iyer’s powerpack powerplay
Kolkata only needed a strong start to corner Hyderabad in the second innings, which looked unlikely after Narine was dismissed in the second over. Venkatesh Iyer, however, took the honours by barging Hyderabad out of the game. He smashed Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0/25) for 20 runs in the third over, which proved to be the turning point in the chase.
Venkatesh Iyer’s final blow against Natarajan
With Venkatesh Iyer smashing Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 20 runs, Kolkata’s win was a matter of time, but Venkatesh gave the final blow in the final over of the powerplay. Iyer scored 20 runs against T Natarajan (0/29) in the last over of the powerplay to lead KKR to 72 runs at the end of the powerplay. Kolkata was already leading in the chase, but this assured Kolkata would reach home early.
Despite losing the final battle, Sunrisers Hyderabad can be proud of their season. After finishing last in 2023, finishing runner-up in 2024 is a big accomplishment. On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders finished the season with only three losses, indicating their dominance. It speaks volumes about how complete a team they were that Russell did not need to bat once while chasing this season. It will be interesting to see who KKR chooses to retain in the mega auctions.
