KKR Vs SRH: Wickets In Powerplay Made Difference, Opines Mitchell Starc After KKR Qualify For IPL 2024 Final

New Delhi: Dismissing Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma early inside the powerplay played a huge role in Kolkata Knight Riders’ convincing eight-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Qualifier 1 of the IPL 2024 on Tuesday, felt pacer Mitchell Starc. With this win, KKR became the first team to book their place in the final to be played in Chennai on May 26. This was also KKR’s fourth entry in an IPL final after 2012, 2014 and 2021. While the Purple and Gold won the title in 2012 and 2014, KKR lost to Chennai Super Kings in 2021.

Opting to bat first, SRH were off to a disastrous start as Starc cleaned his fellow Australian with a peach of a delivery on the second ball of the match. Sharma was the next to go in the second over, thanks to a brilliant diving catch by Andre Russell at point. The nail in the SRH coffin came from Starc when he got two wickets in the same over including that of Nitish Reddy.

“We know how important the powerplay is. These were the two sides who have dominated in the powerplay. We needed to pick early wickets. The way Head and Abhishek have been playing, they like width and free their arms,” said Starc, who was named the Player of the Match.

Notably, Head and Sharma gave nightmares to the opposition in this whole IPL so far with their brutal range hitting. Getting both the batters dismissed early, clearly was a bonus for KKR as they never allowed SRH to settle down as the 2016 champions were nine down with just 129 on board.

However, it was SRH captain Pat Cummins’ late surge that took them to 159 all out. In reply, KKR lost just two wickets before Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer hot unbeaten half-centuries to see the team home with 6.2 overs to spare. Besides Starc, KKR’s slow bowlers – Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy too deserve credit for keeping the opposition in check in the middle overs.

“The spinners were effective and the whole bowling department was bang on,” added Starc. Asked about Head’s wicket, the left-arm pacer said, “Got lucky I guess (Head) was nice to see his back early, not always the case. They are exciting to watch and are talented, they are skillful.”

Skipper Shreyas too heaped high praise on the bowlers. “I think the way every bowler stood up to this occasion, the way they came in and took wickets, that was imperative. The attitude and approach of all bowlers was to take wickets and they did. When you have a variety in the bowling line-up, it’s mesmerising. They have been true in terms of their work ethics, hopefully we keep performing,” he said.

Rajasthan Royals will play Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Wednesday in Eliminator with the winner facing Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 2 on Friday. The winner of the Qualifier 2 take on KKR in the final.