KKR Triumph Over SRH in IPL 2024 Qualifier 1

In a thrilling Qualifier 1 encounter of IPL 2024, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) emerged victorious over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Eden Gardens.

KKR captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bowl first, hoping to exploit the mixed-soil pitch. Mitchell Starc, the Australian pacer, delivered a fiery opening over, dismissing Travis Head for a duck with a full-length delivery that crashed into the stumps.

Rahul Tripathi and Abhishek Sharma steadied the SRH innings, but Vaibhav Arora struck in the second over, trapping Sharma in front for 15. Tripathi, however, kept the scoreboard ticking, hitting a boundary off Starc in the third over.

Nitish Kumar Reddy joined Tripathi at the crease and played a cautious innings, while Tripathi continued to find the boundaries. However, Starc's relentless pace and accuracy proved too much for Tripathi, who was caught by Andre Russell for 24.

Reddy and Abdul Samad added 35 runs for the fourth wicket before Samad was dismissed by Harshit Rana for 18. Shahbaz Ahmed and Heinrich Klaasen then chipped in with valuable contributions, but KKR's bowlers kept the pressure on, restricting SRH to 158/6 in their allotted 20 overs.

In response, KKR openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sunil Narine got off to a solid start, putting on 30 runs for the first wicket. However, Bhuvneshwar Kumar broke the partnership, dismissing Gurbaz for 16.

Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer then steadied the innings, adding 45 runs for the second wicket. Iyer fell to Vijayakanth Viyaskanth for 25, but Rinku Singh and Andre Russell ensured KKR reached their target with ease.

Russell, in particular, played a blistering knock of 42 off just 20 balls, hitting four boundaries and three sixes. He remained unbeaten alongside Rinku Singh (22*) as KKR chased down the target with 10 balls to spare.

With this victory, KKR advanced to the Qualifier 2, where they will face the winner of the Eliminator between Lucknow Super Giants and Rajasthan Royals. SRH's campaign ended with this defeat, but they can take solace in their impressive performance throughout the season.

Tags: #IPL2024, #Qualifier1, #KKRvsSRH, #MitchellStarc, #AndreRussell