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KKR vs SRH Qualifier 1 Review- Kolkata Knight Riders through to the IPL 2024 finals
We have got the first finalist of the IPL 2024 after Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bowlers dominated the high-flying Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the first inning before batters did the formalities in the 2nd inning. Mitchell Starc again showed why we call him big-match players, and the KKR spinners control the game in the middle overs. KKR is looking settled as a unit with each member playing their part. Today, we will discuss the talking points of this match, what went wrong for SRH, and much more. So let’s dive into it quickly.
Kolkata Knight Riders become the first team to reach the IPL 2024 finals
Kolkata Knight Riders, after a collective team effort found themselves in the final of the IPL 2024. They are looking solid as a unit with every member responding well and playing their part so well. Their batting has been firing and KKR always has a very good bowling unit for the tournament. KKR’s local talents like Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Ramandeep Singh, etc have been doing well too, which gives them a huge confidence.
KKR vs SRH, Qualifier 1, Ahmedabad – REVIEW
A Starc factor on a big stage
After winning the toss, SRH went with their strength of batting first. But the decision seemed to be a bad one when they lost 4 early wickets in the powerplay.
Mitchell Starc gets the wicket of dangerous Travis Head on the 2nd ball of the inning. And Vaibhav Arora got Abhishek Sharma in the next over. Their two in-form batters were in the dug-out inside two overs.
Not just that, Mitchell Starc gets two back-to-back wickets in his 3rd over. SRH found themselves at 39 for 4 after 5 overs.
Tripathi and Klaasen tried to rescue SRH
After 4 wickets were down, Rahul Tripathi and Heinrich Klaasen tried hard to rescue SRH from that situation. They even played a few counter-attacking shots and stitched a 62-run stand for the 5th wicket. But that is where the Kolkata Knight Riders spinners came into play. Varun Chakravarthy took the wicket of Klaasen and broke the stand.
SRH collapsed after a mix-up between Tripathi and Samad
After a few hits against Sunil Narine, Abdul Samad tries to sneak a quick single in the 14th over. But a mix-up between him and Tripathi ignites the collapse of SRH. Sanvir was sent in as an impact player, but Narine got him on the very first ball. SRH was reduced to 126 for 9 after that collapse.
Cummins helps SRH to go near 160
Pat Cummins held one end after that, and with a few hits here and there, he took the scoreboard to 159. Andre Russell got him out in the last over.
No problem whatsoever for KKR in a run-chase
Kolkata Knight Riders made a mockery of a run-chase. They didn’t miss Phil Salt’s quick-fire inning at the top as his replacement, R Gurbaz played with the same intent as well. Gurbaz’s quick-fire cameo of 23, and a partnership of 44 with Narine helps Kolkata Knight Riders to set up an easy run-chase.
After Narine also got out, the two Iyer’s (Shreyas and Venkatesh) made an unbeaten partnership of 97 runs to get the team over the line. They won the game convincingly by 8 wickets and with 6.2 overs to spare.
Kolkata Knight Riders are now through to the Indian Premier League IPL 2024 finals. They will now wait for the 2nd team, who will compete in the final of the tournament.
What makes KKR so strong this season?
KKR looks like a very complete team as we discussed earlier. It’s not like they are dependent on one or two individuals. The big players like Andre Russell and Sunil Narine are in good form throughout the tournament. And we have seen how good Mitchell Starc is when it comes to big games. Also, Gurbaz is a very attacking batter at the top, and KKR didn’t miss Salt as an opener in the Qualifier 1.
When it comes to Indian talent, Shreyas Iyer has scored runs in this game. And Venkatesh Iyer has played a few crucial knocks as well when the team needed him. Uncapped Indian players like Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, and Ramandeep Singh also played their part in the team’s success till now.
What went wrong for SRH in this game?
Many would have discussed the decision of Pat Cummins to bat first after winning the toss. But it has been SRH’s strength in the IPL 2024. To score big in the first inning and keep the opposition out of the game there. But the major factor in that is the flying starts given by Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma. Whenever they get a good start, the other batters like Nitish Reddy, Shahbaz Ahmed, and Heinrich Klaasen help the team to go hard in the end. But off-late, their middle order hasn’t responded well whenever the openers got out cheaply.
Also, SRH doesn’t have any reputed out-and-out wrist spinners to take wickets and control the game in the middle overs. They need to figure out all these things in the 2nd Qualifier when they will lock horns with the winner of an Eliminator.
IPL 2024 Finals Prediction: Who Will Make It To Finals?
FAQs:-
(1) Which two teams will compete in the IPL 2024 Eliminator?
Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will be locking horns in the Eliminator today.
(2) How many runs Virat Kohli has scored in the IPL 2024 so far?
Till now, Virat Kohli has scored 708 runs in 14 games with an average of 64.36 and a strike rate of 155.60. He is an orange cap holder in the tournament currently.
(3) What is the fixture of IPL 2024 finals?
The IPL 2024 final will happen on May 26 in Chennai.
