It was a happy night for the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad as they beat Sunrisers Hyderabad pretty convincingly by eight wickets in the IPL 2024 Qualifier 1 on Tuesday, May 21. The Knight Riders last played on May 11, and many had thought they'd be a bit rusty after not having played for 10 days straight when they saw two matches being washed out. But there weren't any signs of rust and instead, they made it clear from the outset that they were here to win the match. Mitchell Starc, who has been under fire for most of the season, brought out his best performance as he dismissed Travis Head off the second ball of the game and went on to take the wickets of Nitish Reddy and Shahbaz Ahmed, leaving Sunrisers Hyderabad with four wickets down in the powerplay. Viral Moments From KKR vs SRH IPL 2024 Qualifier 1 Match: Mitchell Starc’s Ball to Castle Travis Head, Rahul Tripathi’s Moment of Dejection And Other Highlights From Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad Clash.

Sunrisers Hyderabad did have a period of recovery after their top order was blown away when Rahul Tripathi and Heinrich Klaasen led a counter-attack with a partnership of 62 runs from 37 deliveries. But Tripathi's run out seemed to have opened the floodgates once again as Sunrisers Hyderabad continued to lose wickets at regular intervals, eventually being bowled out for 159. That they could make it this far was largely due to captain Pat Cummins who scored 30 runs at the end. Apart from Starc (3/34), Varun Chakaravarthy (2/26), Vaibhav Arora (1/17), Harshit Rana (1/27), Sunil Narine (1/40) and Andre Russell (1/15) were also amongst the wickets. Chasing 160 was never going to be tough for a side like KKR which has shown explosive batting displays in almost every match so far. Sunrisers Hyderabad needed early wickets but they did not get them and a 97-run partnership between Shreyas Iyer (58*) and Venkatesh Iyer (51*) saw the Knights through to the final. Pat Cummins 'Silenced' in Ahmedabad Memes Go Viral After KKR Beat SRH in Qualifier 1 to Enter IPL 2024 Final.

Sunrisers Hyderabad would also have sloppy fielding to blame, with Shreyas Iyer being dropped by Heinrich Klaasen and Travis Head, respectively. Pat Cummins and co get a second bite at the cherry, though, and would be wary of the threat that either of Rajasthan Royals or Royal Challengers Bengaluru bring to the table. Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru lock horns in the Eliminator, with the winner taking on SRH in Qualifier 2 on May 24. Gautam Gambhir’s First Speech As KKR Mentor Where He Said ‘On 26th May We Should Be There’ Goes Viral After Shreyas Iyer and Co Beat SRH To Enter IPL 2024 Final (Watch Video).

KKR vs SRH IPL 2024 Stat Highlights

#KKR entered the IPL final for a fourth time

#Rahul Tripathi scored his first half-century of IPL 2024

#Shreyas Iyer became the first captain to lead two different teams in IPL finals- Delhi Capitals (2020) and Kolkata Knight Riders (2024)

#KKR pulled off the quickest run chase in IPL playoffs/knockouts--with 38 balls remaining

#Pat Cummins and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth registered the second-highest 10th wicket partnership in IPL--33 runs

The Kolkata Knight Riders now have a long gap before the IPL 2024 final on May 26 and will eagerly have their eyes on the remaining two playoff matches to figure their opponents in the big game in Chennai. Shreyas Iyer and co already have one hand on the IPL trophy and will hope to lift it for a third time come Sunday, May 26.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 22, 2024 01:32 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).