KKR's sweet dream, SRH's Knightmare!

Kolkata beat Hyderabad to win their third IPL trophy after fiery opening spell by pacer Mitchell Starc helps bundle out Pat Cummins & Co for just 113; Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Venkatesh Iyer’s 91-run stand ensures Shreyas Iyer-led side chase target with 57 balls and eight wickets to spare

Mitchell Starc was magical. Andre Russell was mesmerising. Gautam Gambhir remained stoic. Shah Rukh Khan hid his emotions behind a mask. Those contrasting pictures vividly conveyed Kolkata Knight Riders’s annihilation of Sunrisers Hyderabad in a lopsided final to bag their third Indian Premier League title here on Sunday. 

In a season dominated from start to finish, KKR’s bowling unit was inch perfect, leaving Sunrisers in shambles while bowling them out for a paltry 113 in 18.3 overs. It was the tournament’s lowest ever summit-clash score. Venkatesh Iyer (52 not out, 26b, 4x4, 3x6) then helped KKR complete the formalities in just 10.3 overs. He also ensured that fellow Iyer—skipper Shreyas Iyer—had a ‘Knight’ to remember after enduring a harrowing last four months where the Indian cricket establishment robbed him of some dignity.

SRH skipper and top-scorer Pat Cummins after being dismissed for 24. Pic/Getty Images

Starc on fire 

The final started with Starc (2-14) justifying his eye-popping auction billing of R24.75 crore with a magical delivery. Starc, who peaked at the right time after a disappointing league phase, made full use of overcast conditions as opener Abhishek Sharma (2) got one that swung late, drawing him forward. The delivery eluded the outside edge of the bat and clipped the off-bail. It was the kind of ball that would always send shivers down the spine of those sitting in the dug-out and even Travis Head (0), who had a forgettable business end in this IPL, wasn’t left behind.

Vaibhav Arora, who bowls at barely 130 clicks, also made use of the conditions and got a fuller length delivery to shape away from Head, who could only nick it to stumper Gurbaz. 

Rahul Tripathi (9) was busy and fidgety and the extra pace and bounce did him in when Starc fired one which held its angular trajectory and hit Tripathi’s willow at a place which was touch above the sweet spot as the shot ballooned up. Ramandeep Singh completed the catch and by the time Powerplay ended, SRH were 40 for 3. Starc’s first spell (3-0-14-2) was brilliant.

Klaasen flops

Once the Powerplay ended, Heinrich Klaasen (16 off 17 balls) was left to do the heavy lifting with Harshit Rana (2-24 in 4 overs) and Andre Russell (3-19 in 2.3 overs) tightening the noose in the middle overs with wickets of Nitish Reddy (13) and Aiden Markram (20) respectively to effectively end SRH’s challenge.

113
Sunrisers’s total against KKR is the lowest by any team in an IPL final

One
This is the first time no player from a team has scored 30 or more in an IPL final innings, Pat Cummins’s 24 was the highest for SRH

Two
All six KKR bowlers claimed wickets against SRH—only the second time by one team in an IPL final

Brief scores
SRH 113 all out in 18.3 overs (P Cummins 24; A Russell 3-19, M Starc 2-14, H Rana 2-24) lost to KKR 114-2 in 10.3 overs (V Iyer 52*, R Gurbaz 39) by 8 wickets

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