Kolkata Celebrates an Easy IPL Final Win Over Sunrisers Hyderabad

KKR is crowned with their THIRD IPL title in a one-sided Final with no real excitement of cricket at Chepauk, Chennai! After winning their first two titles in 2012 and 2014, it’s been almost ten years since Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had been waiting for another title until their dominant win against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL 2024 final on Sunday. This spectacular performance has paved their path to celebrate the third title, thanks to their consistent performance throughout the tournament.

For the stunning bowling attack of Starc, Andre Russel, Harshit Rana, and others in the final, SRH could score only 113 runs on the board in the first innings, enabling KKR to secure an easy win in just 10.3 overs with eight wickets in hand. Though SRH has shown a tremendous batting display in the tournament this year, their collapse in the final stage frustrates the fans and all the well-wishers.

Match Overview

KKR had enough grounds to be confident before appearing in the final, as they had finished the first stage as the top team in the table and also comfortably defeated SRH in their playoff match. On the other hand, SRH, their opponent, lost the consistency several times in the tournament.

Yet, with high hopes, the fans cheered for SRH in the final but got frustrated by another defeat against KKR after the playoff match. With the early wicket of Abhishek and the almost unplayable delivery of Starc, their batting innings were struggling from the beginning. Unfortunately, none of the SRH batsmen could fight back convincingly to secure a challenging total.

At the end of the 1st innings, the result was predictable, as SRH had to perform extremely well with the ball against the KKR’s in-form batters. However, KKR did not face any hurdle to overcome the target of 113 runs, except the early wicket of Narine, scoring only 6 runs from 2 balls. However, other batters from KKR did not make such mistakes and reached the mark contentedly, keeping 57 balls in hand!

Star Performers

KKR kept their determination until the win was confirmed, maintaining extreme professionalism throughout. While the entire team contributed to their journey towards ultimate success, the bowlers deserve special recognition for making the batters’ job easier. Especially, the amazing performance of Mitchell Starc, not just in the final match but also in the first playoff against the same opponent, astounded the experts and fans.

Interestingly, after they paid a record $2.98 million, Mitchell Starc couldn’t perform as per expectations in the initial stage, which was severely criticized on social media and other platforms. However, his brilliant 3-34 (in 4 overs) in the playoff and 2-14 (in 3 overs) in the final match silenced the doubters until the next season! Subsequently, Venkatesh Iyer anchored the chase with a crucial inning (52 of 26 balls), likely building a strong partnership with R. Gurbaz (39 of 32 balls), indicating their batting depth in run chasing. 

Sunil Narine, with 482 runs and a strike rate of 179.85 in the season, including three fifties in 15 matches, is on the top run-getters list. Besides, as a bowler, he averages 37.08 runs, claiming 16 wickets with a 6.90 economy rate. His West Indian mate Andre Russell’s right-arm fast bowling has also claimed 19 wickets with an impressive average of 15.52. Varun Chakraborthy’s 21 wickets in the tournament also helped a lot. On the batting side, Venkatesh Iyer and Sreyash Iyer eased the path for others many times with brilliant knocks.

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Performance

While KKR showed all-around brilliance, SRH has also shown some exceptional performances many times, especially with batting, and has very compellingly posted 200+ totals several times in the tournament. The team was on a good track with their captain Cummins, an expensive addition offering much more to the IPL 2024 than just speed.

Clever bowling by Bhuvneshwar Kumar remained the base of SRH’s bowling attack and key to their success in early overs. Their batting line-up, featuring powerhouses like Rahul Tripathi, Mayank Agarwal, and Glenn Phillips, is also ideal for modern-day cricket.

So, the question is what went wrong for SRH even after having such a great pool of talented players?

SRH fell into deep trouble primarily for losing early wickets, from which they couldn’t pull themselves off. After bringing so many runs for the team in the tournament, Abhishek and Head completely failed to hold the track in the final. Cummins, the specialist bowler, is their highest scorer (24 of 19 balls) when only Markram (20), Reddy (13), and Klaasen (16) reached two figures other than him. Besides, there was not much impressive bowling display as well. All these obstructed SRHs must fight back and make it at least a competitive match!

Fans and celebrations in Kolkata

Kolkata happens to be the capital of West Bengal, and the City of Joy” got ecstatic at the win. Videos of KKR supporters waving team flags and parading through the streets to the song “Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo Re” went viral on social media. All modes of transportation, including buses and autorickshaws, came to a complete stop due to the intense festivities.

Amid these, Shah Rukh Khan made a touching scene at the celebration as he embraced Harshit Rana after the confirmation of the third title. In his next speech, Shah Rukh Khan disclosed his intention to have every member of the Kolkata team imitate Rana’s flying-kiss gesture as they took photos for the trophy.

Numerous well-known Bollywood celebrities, cricket players, politicians, and veterans from different sectors congratulated Shah Rukh Khan’s IPL franchise on social media.

Impact of the Win on KKR

This victory with Gautam Gambhir as mentor has undoubtedly boosted the KKR team’s confidence and spirit, as the team overcame a series of failures for almost a decade. The team’s incredible cohesiveness with the leadership of Cummins and the mentorship of Gautam Gambhir proves that the strategies set and used by the management have been effective.

However, KKR can now think of some improvements through experiments as they have benched players like Suyash Sharma, a promising young spin bowling option. While their strategies worked this time, they can implement more diverse tactics in the next season, getting inspiration from SRH’s use of Cummins in Indian wickets.

Expert Opinions and Reactions

When KKR is busy celebrating the joyous moment, analysts and cricket experts have a job finding out the facts behind the success of KKR. Regarding this, former Indian all-rounder Suresh Raina thinks that eight overs of spin determined the success. Pat Cummins’ leadership qualities, which enabled Australia to win their sixth ODI World Cup last year, were also commended by Raina.

Due to the outstanding performances from vital players like Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russell, and Sunil Narine, as well as the comeback of Starc and the implementation of some cunning strategies by Shreyas Iyer, the KKR reached the final as the favorite.  KKR also showed prudence in player selection, beginning from the IPL auction to the determination of the best 11 on match day.

However, Kolkata is expected to be more confident and keep making changes to recover from the few weaknesses found in the tournament after this dreamy season. It’s time for Kolkata to celebrate and to be prepared for the next season as well!

Conclusion

So, a decade after their 2014 triumph, KKR has clinched another championship. Captain Shreyash Iyer lauded the team’s unity during tough times, crediting their strong collaborative spirit on several occasions.

Through this performance, KKR gave the message that they are back with some fresh blood yet with old strength. With the successful mentorship of Gautam Gambhir, the winning side is now planning to come back with more hunger to win their fourth title in 2025.