KKR beat SRH to claim their third IPL title: Stats
Kolkata Knight Riders claimed their third Indian Premier League title after beating Sunrisers Hyderabad in a one-sided final in Chennai. KKR successfully chased down 114 after bowling out SRH, who recorded the lowest-ever score in an IPL final. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Venkatesh Iyer helped KKR comfortably get home. Notably, KKR also won the IPL in 2012 and 2014 under Gautam Gambhir, their incumbent mentor.
Fifth Indian to win an IPL trophy
KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer became the first-ever player to lead multiple sides to IPL finals. Before joining the Knight Riders, Shreyas was a part of Delhi Capitals' steup. In 2020, the Capitals reached their first-ever final under the leadership of Shreyas. Overall, Shreyas is the fifth Indian to win an IPL trophy after Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, and Hardik Pandya.
Lowest-ever score in IPL finals
Mitchell Starc knocked over Abhishek Sharma with a peach in first over after SRH elected to bat. Meanwhile, Vaibhab Arora dismissed Travis Head to bring SRH down to 6/2. The in-form Rahul Tripathi also fell to Starc within the Powerplay. SRH lost consecutive wickets and slumped to 77/7 thereafter. Pat Cummins's 19-ball 24 then powered SRH to 113. Andre Russell finished with three wickets.
Venkatesh, Gurbaz complete KKR's run-chase
KKR lost Sunil Narine early on, with skipper Pat Cummins dismissing him. However, Venkatesh and Gurbaz made it a one-sided affair with a fitting counter-attack. Skipper Shreyas Iyer later joined Venkatesh as KKR won in 10.3 overs.
Third IPL title for KKR
KKR qualified for their fourth IPL final after beating SRH in Qualifier 1. The Knight Riders topped the points table in IPL 2024. It is worth noting that KKR finished in the top two only twice ahead of IPL 2024. They went on to win the title on both occasions. Besides, KKR finished as the runners-up of the 2021 edition.
Lowest score in IPL finals
As mentioned, SRH recorded the lowest-ever score in an IPL final. The previous-lowest was 125/9 by Chennai Super Kings against Mumbai Indians in the 2013 final. Notably, SRH also registered their join second-lowest totals in IPL history. They also scored 115 against MI in Hyderabad in 2015. SRH's lowest IPL score (96) came in in 2019 against the same opposition.
KKR bowlers shine in Chennai
As per Cricbuzz, this was the first time when no player from a team reached 30 in an IPL final. This was also the second instance of six different bowlers to take a wicket in an IPL final.
Russell's best bowling returns in IPL 2024
Russell's 3/19 in the final were his best bowling returns of IPL 2024. He finished the season with 19 wickets from 15 games at an incredible average of 15.53. His economy rate in the season read 10.06. Overall, Russell raced to 115 wickets in 127 IPL matches. He averages 23.01 in the cash-rich league. Russell also owns over 2,400 IPL runs.
KKR bowlers ace middle overs
It is worth noting that KKR's Varun Chakravarthy, Narine, and Russell finished as the top-three wicket-takers in the middle overs (7-15) in IPL 2024. Chakravarthy topped this list with 17 scalps, while Narine and Russell took 13 and 12 wickets each.
First-ever captain with this feat in IPL
Earlier, Shreyas Iyer became the first player to have led multiple teams to IPL finals. Before joining the Knight Riders, Shreyas was a part of Delhi Capitals' steup. In 2020, the Capitals reached their first-ever final under the leadership of Shreyas. DC eventually lost a high-octane final to MI. Overall, Shreyas became the fifth player to reach multiple IPL finals as captain.
KKR and SRH finished in top two
KKR topped the IPL 2024 points table with nine wins across 14 games. (NRR: +1.428). Two of their matches got abandoned due to rain as they finished with 20 points. Meanwhile, SRH finished second with eight wins (NR: 1). They claimed 17 points at a healthy NRR of +0.414. Courtesy of finishing in the top two, KKR and SRH met in the first Qualifier.
Venkatesh slams a 24-ball fifty
Venkatesh, who hit the winning runs in the 11th over, slammed 52* off 26 balls, a knock laced with 4 fours and 3 sixes. He added a 91-run stand with Gurbaz before skipper Shreyas joined in. The former was the aggressor, having taken Bhuvneshwar Kumar to cleaners. Notably, KKR touched the 100-run mark in the ninth over.
Fourth successive 50+ score in IPL playoffs
Venkatesh smashed his fourth successive 50+ score in IPL playoffs. He also smashed an unbeaten 51 in KKR's win against SRH in Qualifier 1. Before this, the KKR batter scored 50 against eventual champions Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2021 final in Dubai. Earlier that year, he slammed 55 against Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2 in Sharjah.
A look at other notable numbers
KKR won the match with 57 balls to spare, the biggest-ever win in the IPL playoffs/knockouts. This is also the second-biggest win for KKR in the cash-rich league. KKR lost just three games in IPL 2024, the joint-fewest defeats for a team in an IPL season with Rajasthan Royals (3 in 2008). Gujarat Titans lost four games in their 2022 title-winning campaign.
