Kolkata Knight Riders clinched their third IPL title with a resounding win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final of the 2024 edition of the T20 extravaganza at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.
SRH, who were in search of a second title, fell at the final hurdle as their batting order crumbled in the summit clash with KKR bundling out the orange army for a paltry score of 113 runs in 18.3 overs.
The collapse began at the top and in the opening over of the day as Abhishek Sharma, who has been stupendous throughout the season, lost his wicket to a Mitchell Starc ripper that clipped the top of the off-stump.
Travis Head, who has grabbed the spotlight in the season, couldn’t fare much better as he was sent back to the hut for a golden duck by Vaibhav Arora before Starc claimed the scalp of Rahul Tripathi to further hamper the SRH effort.
The inning stood in sharp contrast to Hyderabad’s demonstrations of awe-inspiring run-scoring throughout the tournament, a campaign in which they have redefined and revolutionised the art of batting in the shortest format of the game.
The Sun Network-owned franchise has shattered multiple records in the campaign including the highest-ever T20 total, the most runs scored in a powerplay overs to name a few. The unit has brought into the concept of living by the sword and dying by it, and pride themselves on the ultra-aggressive approach that carried them into the summit clash.
However, this wasn’t the first time that the SRH top order couldn’t measure up to their lofty standards at the hallowed MAC this season as they tanked in both their previous outings this season, once against home side CSK in the group stages and then again against Rajasthan Royals in the second qualifier.
When quizzed if the adaptation of an alternate strategy for the final could have sent the team in a different direction than what transpired in reality, SRH assistant coach Simon Helmot emphasised that the side does not plan on second-guessing their ideologies or changing it based on results or turfs.
“We are not going to change our brand or approach because of defeats,” the Australian asserted.
“Yeah, we have been aggressive, but we have also wanted to be smart and work out situations,” he elucidated.
The 52-year-old did not let the disappointment engulf him though as he was able to look at the funny side of things as he jested that it wasn’t in their blueprint to succumb to the lowly total in the championship clash and asserted that their openers were undone by KKR pacers’ quality deliveries.
“Of course, our plan wasn’t to get bowled out in the 19th over,” he joked.
“I think we played in a really positive way, but our openers got knocked over by two really good deliveries at the start of the match so that put us on the back foot,” he explained.
“We also lucked out on partnerships, and unfortunately it was one of those days,” he said.
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