AHMEDABAD: Mitchell Starc-powered Kolkata Knight Riders’ juggernaut rolled into the IPL final as the two-time champions produced a ruthless performance against Sunrisers Hyderabad for an eight-wicket win in Qualifier 1 here on Tuesday.
Starc produced a stunning opening burst of three wickets in the powerplay to break the back of SRH’s dangerous batting.
They were eventually shot out for a mere 159 in 19. 3 overs with Rahul Tripathi scoring a vital 55 while Heinrich Klaasen (32) and Pat Cummins (30) also fought hard.
On a benign wicket in steaming hot conditions, SRH’s fight petered out as KKR knocked off the innocuous 160-run target in a mere 13. 4 overs with skipper Shreyas Iyer (58 not out off 24) and Venkatesh Iyer (51 not out off 28) taking them over the line.
KKR will play their fourth IPL final in Chennai on Sunday.
SRH, who had pipped Rajasthan Royals on the final day of the league stage to finish second in the points table, will now proceed to Chennai to have another crack at making the summit clash with the Qualifier 2 to be played on May 24.
The Pat Cummins-led side will face the winner of the Eliminator between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru here on Wednesday.
In his first game this season, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23) played his role to perfection with two crucial grabs behind the wicket and a quickfire 14-ball 23 at the top laced with two sixes and as many fours.
Chasing a below-par target, KKR raised their fifty in no time.
Sunil Narine (21) perished shortly after the powerplay which brought the pair of Shreyas and Venkatesh together.
They put on 97 runs for the third wicket to complete a comprehensive victory.
Shreyas also had luck on his side as a paddle sweep off Viyaskanth Vijaykanth ricocheted off SRH keeper Heinrich Klaasen who went for the catch in the 10th over.
But with short midwicket fielder Rahul Tripathi running in hard for it as well, Klaasen could not hold onto the ball despite having it in his grasp while nearly avoiding a collision.
Soon after, the day went from bad to worse for SRH and Head who spilled a regulation catch off T Natarajan in the 11th over which gave the KKR skipper another lifeline.