Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets in the first qualifier on Tuesday (May 21) to become the first finalist of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Chasing a modest target of 160, KKR hardly broke a sweat and won the match in 13.3 overs. For Kolkata, Venkatesh Iyer scored unbeaten 28-ball 51 while skipper Shreyas Iyer hit 58 not out off 24 balls.
KKR opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who replaced Englishman Phil Salt, gave fine support to in-form Sunil Narine as the duo added 44 runs for the first wicket in 3.1 overs before T Natarajan sent back Gurbaz. SRH skipper Pat Cummins then sent back Narine on the second ball after the powerplay with KKR already at 67.
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Both, Venkatesh and Shreyas then gave no chance to the SRH bowlers. The duo added 97 runs for the third wicket as Iyer finished the game with a flurry of boundaries which included three sixes and one four off Travis Head.
Earlier, SRH won the toss and elected to bat first in Ahmedabad. The decision was proved wrong straight up as Mitchell Starc sent back destructive opener Travis Head back on the second ball of the match for a duck. SRH’s innings took a downturn from there as Head’s opening partner Abhishek Sharma was sent back in the next over as well.
Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rahul then added 26 runs for the third wicket in next three overs before Starc came back to dismiss Reddy and number four Shahbaz Ahmed off successive balls in the fifth over. SRH, one of the most explosive batting units in the ongoing IPL 2024 season, finished the powerplay at 45/4 with Starc claiming three of these wickets.
Heinrich Klaasen then scored 21-ball 32 and added 62 runs with Tripathi for the fifth wicket as SRH crossed 100-run mark in in 11th over. SRH then lost five quick wickets and were 125/9 before Cummins scored 24-ball 30 to take his team past 150-run mark as they finished at 159 in 19.3 overs.
SRH, however, still have a chance to make it to the final in the second qualifier where they face the winner of the eliminator game between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals.
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