Kolkata Knight Riders enter fourth IPL final with dominant win over Sunrisers Hyderabad

The Mitchell Starc-powered Kolkata Knight Riders juggernaut reached the IPL final as the two-time champions produced a ruthless performance against Sunrisers Hyderabad to an eight-wicket win in Qualifier 1 on Tuesday. Starc produced a stunning early three-wicket burst in the powerplay to break the back of SRH’s dangerous batting. They were eventually bowled out for just 159 in 19.3 overs, with Rahul Tripathi scoring a vital 55, while Heinrich Klaasen (32) and Pat Cummins (30) also fought hard. On a benign wicket in extremely hot conditions, SRH’s fight faded as KKR smashed the innocuous target of 160 runs in just 13.4 overs with captain Shreyas Iyer (58 not out off 24) and Venkatesh Iyer (51 not out off 28 ) taking them over the line.

KKR will play their fourth IPL final in Chennai on Sunday.

SRH, who defeated Rajasthan Royals on the final day of the league stage to finish second in the points table, will now head to Chennai to get another chance to make the top clash with Qualifier 2, to be played on May 24.

The Pat Cummins-led team will face the winner of the Eliminator between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru here on Wednesday.

In his first game this season, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23) played his role to perfection with two crucial catches behind the wicket and a quickfire 14-ball 23 at the top, laced with two sixes and as many fours.

Chasing a below average target, KKR brought up their fifty in no time.

Sunil Narine (21) died soon after the powerplay that brought together the duo of Shreyas and Venkatesh. They put on 97 runs for the third wicket to complete a comprehensive victory.

Shreyas also had luck on his side when a low drive from Viyaskanth Vijaykanth bounced off SRH keeper Heinrich Klaasen, who tried to catch it in the 10th over.

But with midfield defender Rahul Tripathi running hard too, Klaasen was unable to hold on to the ball despite having it in his hands, almost avoiding a collision.

Soon after, the day went from bad to worse for SRH and Head, who spilled a regulation catch on T Natarajan in the 11th over, which gave the KKR captain another lifeline.

If Shreyas was content to hit the ball while saving the odd ball for boundaries, Venkatesh outdistanced his captain with a quick half-century that was completed off 28 balls.

However, Shreyas edged past his younger partner to close out the game with a flurry of boundaries. Venkatesh, meanwhile, remained unbeaten on 51 off 28 balls, with four sixes and five fours.

Previously, lanky Australian speedster Starc reaped benefits by utilizing his key skill of fast bowling and swinging the ball. He rattled the stumps of the marauding SRH Head in the second ball of the contest to set the tone in KKR’s favor.

The IPL’s third-highest bowler, Head, was all over the place when he attempted a wild hit against his compatriot, who edged the ball slightly after bowling and knocking down the middle and middle stumps to dismiss the batsman for the second successive duck.

Starc also struck Nitish Reddy (9) and Shahbaz Ahmed (0) took one on his wickets to put KKR in firm control inside the powerplay.

With Head removed from the equation early, SRH pinned their hopes on Abhishek Sharma but the left-hander was also confined to an unsuccessful outing.

Abhishek, who has picked gaps immaculately and fired spectacular shots more often this season, played meekly towards cover, where Andre Russell timed his leap to perfection and used both hands to complete the dismissal, on Vaibhav Arora.