The Kolkata Knight Riders booked their place in the Indian Premier League (IPL) final for the fourth time with a convincing eight-wicket victory over the Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 1 on Tuesday.
Mitchell Starc, the IPL's most expensive buy, justified his price tag with a fiery three-wicket burst (3-22) in the powerplay, dismantling SRH's top order. He dismissed in-form opener Travis Head for a second consecutive duck, then removed Nitish Reddy (9) and Shahbaz Ahmed (0) to leave SRH reeling at 39-3.
Rahul Tripathi (55 off 35) offered some resistance for SRH, but a 62-run partnership with Heinrich Klaasen (32 off 21) was the only significant contribution. Klaasen was dismissed by Varun Chakravarthy in the 11th over.
SRH's woes continued as Tripathi was run out thanks to a sharp piece of fielding by Andre Russell. Abdul Samad's brief six off his first ball couldn't spark a revival, and Sanvir Singh was bowled by Sunil Narine (1-40) on his first delivery.
SRH captain Pat Cummins (30 off 24) and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth (18) added a late 33-run stand to push SRH past 150, but it was far from enough.
KKR openers Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer chased down the target of 160 runs with ease, scoring fluent fifties to secure victory in just 13.4 overs.
KKR, who finished seventh in the points table last year, have enjoyed a remarkable turnaround under the mentorship of Gautam Gambhir. They topped the table this season with 20 points from 14 matches, thanks to contributions from Sunil Narine, Phil Salt (before his injury) and uncapped Indian pacers.
SRH will get a second chance to reach the final when they face the winner of the Eliminator between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Qualifier 2 on Friday.
