KKR vs SRH: "It's mesmerizing" - Shreyas Iyer in awe of KKR bowling unit after stunning performance in Qualifier 1

The Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) locked horns with the Pat Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) on Tuesday, May 21, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

KKR were invited to bowl first in the match and Mitchell Starc proved his real worth to silence the price tag critics. Starc removed Travis Head (0), Nitish Reddy (9), and Shahbaz Ahmed (0) inside powerplay while Vaibhav Arora dismissed Abhishek Sharma (4) as KKR were off to a stunning start.

After the first 6 overs, KKR bowlers kept bowling great lines and lengths, but fighting knocks from Rahul Tripathi (55), Heinrich Klaasen (32) and Pat Cummins (30) took SRH to 159/10. For KKR, Mitchell Starc picked up a 3-wicket haul while Varun Chakravarthy got two wickets. Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, and Andre Russell also bagged one wicket each.

When it came to chasing, Sunil Narine (21) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23) dismantled the SRH bowlers with their attacking brand of cricket. After the openers got out, Shreyas Iyer (58) and Venkatesh Iyer (51) took the responsibility to power KKR to an 8-wicket win as they completed the run-chase in 13.4 overs. With the victory, they booked a place in the Indian Premier League 2024 final.

Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, Shreyas Iyer expressed delight over the performance of his players. Shreyas Iyer stated:

"Elated by the performance, the responsibility was important, we stood for each other, extremely happy with the performances. The rejuvenation was important for us. When you travel so much. It's important to stay in the present. Today was the day we had to maximise, we did it and that's what we thrive on."

Shreyas Iyer further showered rich praise on his bowlers and said that having a lot of variety in the bowling line-up is mesmerizing for him. Shreyas Iyer said:

"I think the way every bowler stood up to this occasion, the way they came in and took wickets, that was imperative. The attitude and approach of all bowlers was to take wickets and they did. When you have a variety in the bowling line-up, it's mesmerising. They have been true in terms of their work ethics, hopefully, we keep performing."

Shreyas Iyer signed off by talking about Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Venkatesh Iyer. He elaborated:

"It was Gurbaz's first game and he gave an impactful start. We had to make sure we carry forward the same run rate. I don't know Tamil, but I understand. Venky speaks in tamil, I reply in Hindi (talking about the communication between him and Venkatesh Iyer). We need to be in our zone in the final and make sure we give our best."

Kolkata Knight Riders Had Also Hammered Sunrisers Hyderabad In the IPL 2024 Group Stage Game

The previous encounter between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad was very early on in the tournament in the 3rd match of the Indian Premier League 2024 on March 23 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Both teams played an exciting cricket brand of cricket and in the end, KKR emerged victorious by 4 runs.

Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and invited Kolkata Knight Riders to bat first in the match. From the top-order, only Phil Salt fired with the bat as he scored 54 runs, but KKR were under pressure as they were reduced to 51/4. However, the middle and lower order of KKR shined and took the team to a score of 208/7. Ramandeep Singh (35) and Rinku Singh (23) played good cameos but the best knock came from the bat of the West Indies star Andre Russell, who scored 64 runs off 25 balls, with 3 fours and 7 sixes.

In the second innings, Kolkata Knight Riders bowlers were taken to the cleaners by Sunrisers Hyderabad batters, but they quickly pulled things back to put SRH under pressure. It looked like the match would easily go in KKR's favour but Heinrich Klaasen (63) played a brutal innings at death and smoked bowlers all over the park. On the last 6 balls, SRH just needed 13 with Klaasen still unbeaten. However, Harshit Rana bowled an exceptional over and guided KKR to a 4-run win.