Kolkata Knight Riders (164/2) defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (159/10) by 8 wickets in the first qualifier of IPL 2024 thereby making it to the final on 26th May. Sunrisers Hyderabad chose to bat first, but Mitchell Starc (3/34) and Varun Chakaravarthy (2/26) restricted them to 159 runs. Thanks to Shreyas Iyer (58/24) and Venkatesh Iyer’s (51/28) domination, Kolkata Knight Riders became the first team of IPL 2024 to make it to the final.
Pat Cummins (30/24) took the brave decision to bat first in Ahmedabad despite the dew factor, but Mitchell Starc proved otherwise. He picked up three wickets, including the crucial wicket of Travis Head (0/2), which destroyed Hyderabad’s batting in powerplay. Rahul Tripathi (55/35) and Heinrich Klaasen (32/21) came up with some fight to take the score to 159 runs.
Chasing, Kolkata Knight Riders had smooth sailing. Despite playing his first game, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23/14) took on the attack and gave Kolkata an early head. Then Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas provided the clinical touch in the middle overs to clinched the victory with 38 balls to spare. 
Kolkata Knight Riders will now head to Chennai for the IPL final on 26th May. Their team looks solid with all bases covered, and it ain’t gonna be easy for anyone to beat them on 26th. In contrast, Sunrisers Hyderabad will face the winner of the Eliminator on 22nd May in qualifier 2. Hyderabad rely heavily on their openers, and they need the pair to click to travel to Chennai.
Here are five moments which defined the result
Vintage Mitchell Starc on duty
Due to his record price tag and poor performance, Mitchell Starc has faced a lot of criticism this season. However, Starc proved his worth against Hyderabad. The left-arm speedster removed Travis Head in the first over of the match to set the tone and give a big advantage over Hyderabad, which led to the whole lineup of Hyderabad falling apart. In his third over, Starc took the wickets of Nitish Reddy (9/10) and Shahbaz Ahmed (0/1) to put SRH on the back foot.
Varun Chakaravarthy’s attack in 11th over
Rahul Tripathi and Henrich Klaasen didn’t let the pressure of the scoreboard get to them despite losing four wickets in powerplay. Both scored at a healthy rate and Hyderabad were sailing at run rate around 9. While Klaasen was looking to change gears and give flashbacks of their Eden Gardens encounter, Varun Chakaravarthy took Klaasen down.
Game-changing Narine in 14th over
When Hyderabad lost Klaasen in the 11th over, everyone expected them to slow down and take the game deep, but Abdul Samad (16/12) had a different plan. Samad decided to take down Kolkata’s spinners and was successful with sixes against Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine (1/40). Hyderabad once again looked on track for a good total with Rahul Tripathi on the other end, but Narine’s over proved to be a crucial factor in the 14th over. With a brilliant fielding performance, Andre Russell ran out Rahul Tripathi on second ball, and before Hyderabad could catch their breath, Narine removed Sanvir Singh (0/1) with the next delivery to end Hyderabad’s hopes.
Gurbaz’s solid powerplay
As Phil Salt was unavailable for the playoffs, Kolkata arrived with a big void to fill, but Rahmanullah Gurbaz made sure they wouldn’t be missing anyone. KKR needed a quick start coming into chase, which Gurbaz provided. During the second over of the chase, the Afghan batter scored 20 runs from Pat Cummins’ (1/38) over to cool down nerves. While Gurbaz only made 23 runs, his innings ensured that KKR would not be under any pressure of run-rate.
Iyer attack in middle overs
After powerplay, Kolkata Knight Riders were cruising towards the chase, but needed a finishing touch, which was provided by Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer. Their quick runs in middle overs prevented any bowler from getting going. The pair added 97 runs for the third wicket to complete a comprehensive victory. In particular, Venkatesh Iyer’s early attack against Cummins and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth (0/22) destroyed Hyderabad’s hopes.
As a result of this win, Kolkata Knight Riders have entered the final and at this point look likely to win the title. Their bowlers are performing at their best and their batters are delivering at the right time. In contrast, Sunrisers Hyderabad will try to change their strategy to counter their overreliance on the top order.
