Kolkata Knight Riders win third IPL title, after previous successes in 2012 and 2014, with eight-wicket thrashing of Sunrisers Hyderabad; Sunrisers slump to 113 all out - the lowest score in any IPL final - before Kolkata race to victory in 10.3 overs thanks to Venkatesh Iyer's rapid 56
Sunday 26 May 2024 20:35, UK
Kolkata Knight Riders won their first Indian Premier League title in a decade as they stalled this season's batting dynamos Sunrisers Hyderabad before motoring to an eight-wicket victory in the final.
Sunrisers had struck three of the four highest totals not only in this year's competition but in all IPLs, as they racked up a tournament-record 287 as well as 277 and 266 across March and April.
But they were rolled for 113 in 18.3 overs in Chennai, the lowest score in any IPL final, before Kolkata eased to their target in just 10.3 overs to add to their 2012 and 2014 triumphs, with Ventakesh Iyer (52no off 26 balls) notching the winning run.
Venkatesh and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (39 off 32) smoked 91 from 45 balls for Kolkata's second wicket, with Venkatesh hitting four boundaries in a row off Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the third over and four on the trot off T Natarajan in the sixth, which KKR ended on 72-1.
Sunrisers' woes started from the fifth ball of the match as Australia's Mitchell Starc bowled Abhishek Sharma with a stunning delivery, with Starc's countryman Travis Head then dismissed for a golden duck in the second as his side faltered after electing to bat.
Sunrisers slipped to 21-3 inside five overs and continued to stutter thereafter, with the 2016 champions grateful for Pat Cummins' 24 from the No 9 spot for taking them into three figures.
Kolkata have also thumped big scores in the IPL this term, with a best of 272-7 against Delhi Capitals, but their bowlers' sterling working against Sunrisers meant they were only chasing a small target.
West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell claimed 3-19 and fellow seamers Starc and Vaibhav Arora two apiece, around economical bowling from spinners including Sunil Narine (1-16).
Narine fell in the second over of the run chase, one ball after pulling Cummins for six, but there would be no stirring comeback from Sunrisers as Gurbaz and Venkatesh took the bowling apart.
May of the players involved will now head to West Indies and the USA for the Men's T20 World Cup in June, including Sunrisers' South African duo Heinrich Klaasen and Aiden Markram, and Afghanistan batter Gurbaz.
Watch the Men's T20 World Cup, in the USA and West Indies, live on Sky Sports between June 1-29, with England the defending champions. You can stream the event contract-free with NOW.
England continue their preparations with the third of four T20 internationals against Pakistan on Tuesday, in Cardiff, with that game live on Sky Sports from 6pm (6.30pm first ball).
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