Kolkata Knight Riders showcase their best game on the biggest occasion to blow away Sunrisers Hyderabad and clinch third IPL title | Ipl News

SYNOPSIS: In a lopsided final, Kolkata Knight Riders’s clinical effort with the ball blows away Sunrisers Hyderabad to clinch third IPL titleThere weren’t any over-the-top celebrations fitting of the campaign Kolkata Knight Riders have had. As Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer completed a single to bring home the franchise’s third IPL title, their first since 2014, they were mobbed in no time.
Hugs and high fives would follow. Even Gautam Gambhir, who rarely smiles, would allow himself a grin. But it did feel as if Kolkata were expecting nothing other than a victory at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, where they won their first title in 2012. And they ensured it was a commanding show, for they looked totally invincible on the night.

ICYMI!
That special run to glory 💫💜
Recap the #Final on @StarSportsIndia and @JioCinema 💻📱#TATAIPL | #KKRvSRH | #TheFinalCall pic.twitter.com/qUDfUFHpka
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 26, 2024
No team had ever chased a total as low as 113 to win the title. all means, the final was done and dusted in the first half of the match. After the splendid effort from their bowlers, the KKR batsmen only had to complete the job. With Venkatesh Iyer scoring an unbeaten 52 off 26 deliveries, they would do so in 10.3 overs.
The big match was not a close match. On the final day, only one team came out to play. Sunrisers Hyderabad had played an ultra-aggressive brand of cricket throughout the tournament, one which they had acknowledged wouldn’t come off every day. But they would have dearly hoped Sunday would not be one of their off-days.

🥳
The Final Knight fuelled with intensity, dominance and belief 💜
Congratulations to Kolkata Knight Riders for winning their 3️⃣rd IPL Trophy 🏆
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/lCK6AJCdH9#TATAIPL | #KKRvSRH | #Final | #TheFinalCall pic.twitter.com/K8OATrsqq4
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 26, 2024
But an off-day it was, and spectacularly so.
Power failure in Powerplay
For Sunrisers Hyderabad, their batting Powerplay has all been about setting the stage on fire. Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, with their aggressive intent, combusted opposition after opposition to an extent that teams were barely able to recover, especially when they batted first.
On Sunday, after Pat Cummins won the toss and chose to bat in a high-pressure game, they were straightaway walking into their comfort zone.
But the end of Powerplay, the IPL trophy was already heading to Kolkata. This was an evening where, Kolkata Knight Riders’ all-round attack, came up with a collective ruthless effort that had not been seen in any IPL final till then. A contest that promised plenty of drama and action turned into a lop-sided affair. And setting the tone for Kolkata was Mitchell Starc, a bowler who cost them a whopping Rs 24.75 crore at the auction.

Can’t get any better than this 🤌
📽️ WATCH Mitchell Starc’s magical delivery again 🔽#TATAIPL | #KKRvSRH | #Final | #TheFinalCall https://t.co/PKzOa2XUYT
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 26, 2024
Having already blown them away only four nights ago at Ahmedabad in his first spell, there was reason for Hyderabad to be wary of Starc on Sunday. But as their captain Cummins asserted, they were not going to change their style. Starc relishes such contests. There is no better fast bowler in the world when it comes to delivering near-perfect, unplayable deliveries first up. Like in Ahmedabad, to keep Travishek quite, KKR needed Starc.
As soon as the team bus landed with just an hour to go for the game to begin, even before he headed to the dressing room, Starc picked up the ball and headed to the practice pitches. He ran in and delivered a few deliveries, just to loosen up.
Only moments before the toss, Starc was marking his run-up and Abhishek shadow-practising from one end and visualising what he would be facing from the Australian. But no amount of practice would have prepared Abhishek for what Starc came up with. Having sent four deliveries that swung away, the fifth too followed the pattern. But this one pitched on the middle-stump line and shaped away, squaring up Abhishek. At 139.1kmph, Abhishek didn’t stand a chance.

AN ABSOLUTE RIPPER! 🤩
As spectacular as it gets from Mitchell Starc ⚡️
He gets the in-form Abhishek Sharma early 🔥
Watch the match LIVE on @JioCinema and @StarSportsIndia 💻📱#TATAIPL | #KKRvSRH | #Final | #TheFinalCall pic.twitter.com/K5w9WIywuR
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 26, 2024
Right through the season, the new ball has barely swung at Chepauk. But on Sunday, even Vaibhav Arora found swing straightaway. Like they did in Ahmedabad, Kolkata’s new ball bowlers denied any width to Abhishek and Head. They stuck to what worked for them in Qualifier I as Arora got one to angle away, and Head edged the first ball he faced to the wicketkeeper. Hyderabad have seldom recovered from such blows in the past, and the trend would continue as Rahul Tripathi too departed in the fifth over. At 40/3 after the Powerplay, Kolkata had the final under control.
Taking a stranglehold
There is a reason Kolkata have never lost a match this season while chasing. Despite playing in batting-friendly conditions, Kolkata’s attack is as rounded as any team can wish for. Their entire gameplan revolves around winning games with the right intent with the bat, but their bowlers have been no pushovers. And they didn’t even need to turn to their mystery spinners Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy to complete the job that Starc started.

The seamers have stepped 🆙 big time for @KKRiders 💜#SRH 58/4 nearing the halfway mark
Follow the Match ▶️ https://t.co/lCK6AJBFRB#TATAIPL | #KKRvSRH | #Final | #TheFinalCall pic.twitter.com/pN5ge9OqLr
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 26, 2024
Instead, Harshit Rana – Kolkata’s find of the season – and Andre Russell would squash whatever comeback hopes Hyderabad had. For a batting line-up that made six-hitting the norm this season, they managed only three on the night. It showed how ruthless Kolkata were in terms of execution. Making full use of the red-soil pitch that offered good bounce, Rana and Russell shared five wickets between them, conceding only 43 runs in 6.3 overs.

For a team that had three 250-plus totals, everything that could go wrong for Hyderabad on the night, did.
Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 113 all out in 18.3 overs (Pat Cummins 24; Andre Russell 3/19, Mitchell Starc 2/14) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 114 in 10.3 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 52 not out, Rahmanullah Gurbaz 39) eight wickets