Kolkata Knight Riders have restricted Sunrisers Hyderabad to a low score with their commanding bowling. In the chase, Kolkata’s top order performed brilliantly.
After a stellar start by the two openers, an unstoppable partnership between Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer led KKR to a significant victory. With an 8-wicket win, Bollywood legend Shah Rukh Khan’s team reached the finals for the fourth time.
Kolkata reached their first final in 2012 and won their first title in that tournament. They won their second title in 2014. The team last reached the final in 2021 but lost to Chennai Super Kings by 27 runs.
Despite the loss to Kolkata, Pat Cummins and his team still have a chance to reach the final. On Wednesday, they will face the winner of the eliminator match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals in the second qualifier.
In the battle to reach the finals, Hyderabad won the toss and chose to bat first at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. Under the attack from Mitchell Starc and Varun Chakravarthy, Hyderabad’s innings folded for 159 runs with three balls to spare. In response, KKR secured the win with 38 balls and 8 wickets in hand.
Kolkata got off to a flying start in their chase thanks to Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sunil Narine. The opening partnership added 44 runs. The partnership broke when Gurbaz got out for 23 runs off 14 balls in 3.2 overs. KKR lost their second wicket in 6.2 overs when Narine was dismissed for 21 runs off 16 balls.
Later, the unbeaten 97-run partnership between the two Iyers ensured Kolkata’s victory. Venkatesh Iyer scored 51 runs off 28 balls, hitting five fours and four sixes. Shreyas Iyer scored 58 runs off 24 balls, also hitting five fours and four sixes. Pat Cummins and Natarajan each took a wicket for Hyderabad.
Earlier, Hyderabad’s batting was under pressure from the start. Openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma were dismissed for 13 runs. Despite Rahul Tripathi holding one end, the team lost two more batsmen at 39 runs. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shahbaz Ahmed both failed to contribute significantly.
Coming in at six, Heinrich Klaasen helped Rahul take the team to a hundred runs. Klaasen got out after scoring 32 runs off 21 balls at 101 runs. Rahul also departed at 121 runs after scoring 55 runs off 35 balls with seven fours and one six. In the end, Pat Cummins’ fighting 30 runs off 24 balls took Hyderabad to 159 runs.
For Kolkata, Mitchell Starc took three wickets, and Varun Chakravarthy took two.
