AHMEDABAD: Mitchell Starc-led Kolkata Knight Riders reached the IPL final with a thumping win as the two-time champions produced a brutal eight-wicket win against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 1 here on Tuesday.
Starc made a brilliant start by taking three wickets in the powerplay and broke the back of SRH's dangerous batting.
They were eventually bowled out for just 159 in 19.3 overs, with Rahul Tripath scoring a crucial 55 while Heinrich Klaasen (32) and Pat Cummins (30) also toiled hard.
On a benign wicket in hot conditions, SRH's fight fell short as KK chased down the easy target of 160 runs in just 13.4 overs with the help of captain Shreyas Iyer (58 not out off 24 runs) and Venkatesh Iyer (51 not out off 28 runs). gotta get. them on the line.
KKR will play its fourth IPL final in Chennai on Sunday.SRH, who thrashed Rajasthan Royals on the final day of the league stage to finish second on the points table, will now head to Chennai to vie for a place at the summit clash with Qualifier 2 to be played on May 24.
The Pat Cummins-led side will face the winner of the eliminator between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore here on Wednesday.
In his first game of this season, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23) played his role perfectly with two crucial catches behind the wicket and 2 runs at the top with the help of two sixes and as many fours in 14 balls.
Chasing a lower target than usual, KKR completed their half-century in no time.
Sunil Narine (21) departed soon after the powerplay, bringing the pair of Shreyas and Venkatesh together.They added 97 runs for the third wicket to seal a comprehensive win.
Shreyas's luck was also not on his side as Vijayakanth's paddle sweep off the ball ricocheted off SRH keeper Heinrich Klaasen, who was caught in the 10th over.
But with short midwicket fielder Rahul Tripathi also trying hard for it, Klaasen could not get hold of the ball despite having it in his hands, while almost escaping the collision.
Soon after, the day went from bad to worse for SRH and Head, who dropped a regulation catch off T Natarajan in the 11th over, giving another lease of life to the KKR skipper.
If Shreyas was content to swing the ball around while thrashing the odd ball for boundaries, Venkatesh overtook his captain with a quickfire half-century, which was completed off 28 balls.However, Shreyas hit a flurry of boundaries, overpowering his young partner. Venkatesh remained unbeaten after scoring 51 runs in 28 balls with the help of four sixes and five fours.
Earlier, the lanky Australian fast bowler Starc had the advantage of using his basic skills of bowling fast and swinging the ball. He created the atmosphere in favor of KKR by uprooting the stumps of SR Marauder Head on the very second ball of the match.
IPL's third-highest run-scorer Head was in the news everywhere when he went on to hit wildly against his compatriot, throwing the ball a little too far after being pitched and knocking down the off and middle stump to give the batsman the second wicket in a row. Got out on zero.Starc also dismissed Nitish Reddy (9) and kept KKR in firm control inside the powerplay by dismissing Shahbaz Ahmed (0) at his own wickets.
With Head being removed from the equation early, SRH pinned their hopes on Abhishek Sharma, but the left-hander was also restricted to unsuccessful outings.
Abhishek, who has taken impeccable intervals and hit brilliant shots many times this season, played a gentle shot towards cover, where Andre Russell timed his jump to perfection and used both his hands to dismiss Vaibhav Arora. Used.
Starc made a brilliant start by taking three wickets in the powerplay and broke the back of SRH's dangerous batting.
They were eventually bowled out for just 159 in 19.3 overs, with Rahul Tripath scoring a crucial 55 while Heinrich Klaasen (32) and Pat Cummins (30) also toiled hard.
On a benign wicket in hot conditions, SRH's fight fell short as KK chased down the easy target of 160 runs in just 13.4 overs with the help of captain Shreyas Iyer (58 not out off 24 runs) and Venkatesh Iyer (51 not out off 28 runs). gotta get. them on the line.
KKR will play its fourth IPL final in Chennai on Sunday.SRH, who thrashed Rajasthan Royals on the final day of the league stage to finish second on the points table, will now head to Chennai to vie for a place at the summit clash with Qualifier 2 to be played on May 24.
The Pat Cummins-led side will face the winner of the eliminator between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore here on Wednesday.
In his first game of this season, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23) played his role perfectly with two crucial catches behind the wicket and 2 runs at the top with the help of two sixes and as many fours in 14 balls.
Chasing a lower target than usual, KKR completed their half-century in no time.
Sunil Narine (21) departed soon after the powerplay, bringing the pair of Shreyas and Venkatesh together.They added 97 runs for the third wicket to seal a comprehensive win.
Shreyas's luck was also not on his side as Vijayakanth's paddle sweep off the ball ricocheted off SRH keeper Heinrich Klaasen, who was caught in the 10th over.
But with short midwicket fielder Rahul Tripathi also trying hard for it, Klaasen could not get hold of the ball despite having it in his hands, while almost escaping the collision.
Soon after, the day went from bad to worse for SRH and Head, who dropped a regulation catch off T Natarajan in the 11th over, giving another lease of life to the KKR skipper.
If Shreyas was content to swing the ball around while thrashing the odd ball for boundaries, Venkatesh overtook his captain with a quickfire half-century, which was completed off 28 balls.However, Shreyas hit a flurry of boundaries, overpowering his young partner. Venkatesh remained unbeaten after scoring 51 runs in 28 balls with the help of four sixes and five fours.
Earlier, the lanky Australian fast bowler Starc had the advantage of using his basic skills of bowling fast and swinging the ball. He created the atmosphere in favor of KKR by uprooting the stumps of SR Marauder Head on the very second ball of the match.
IPL's third-highest run-scorer Head was in the news everywhere when he went on to hit wildly against his compatriot, throwing the ball a little too far after being pitched and knocking down the off and middle stump to give the batsman the second wicket in a row. Got out on zero.Starc also dismissed Nitish Reddy (9) and kept KKR in firm control inside the powerplay by dismissing Shahbaz Ahmed (0) at his own wickets.
With Head being removed from the equation early, SRH pinned their hopes on Abhishek Sharma, but the left-hander was also restricted to unsuccessful outings.
Abhishek, who has taken impeccable intervals and hit brilliant shots many times this season, played a gentle shot towards cover, where Andre Russell timed his jump to perfection and used both his hands to dismiss Vaibhav Arora. Used.
