The match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders held little importance in terms of playoff qualifications, as both of last year’s finalists were eliminated this season. Pat Cummins won the toss and decided to bat first. In their first match of the season against the Rajasthan Royals, they scored the second-highest score in IPL history with 286. Now, in their last match, they recorded the third-highest score in IPL history with 277.
All of Hyderabad’s batters wreaked havoc on KKR’s bowling. Some might even say it was revenge for last year’s final. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma dominated the powerplay, scoring 79 runs. However, Sunil Narine spun his web and dismissed the young Indian left-hander for 32 off just 16 balls. Seeing the KKR spinners start their spells, SRH played a masterstroke by sending Heinrich Klaasen at number three.
Head and Klaasen punished every bad ball, and by the end of the 11th over, the score was already above 150. Despite Narine dismissing Head for 76, the SRH batters continued to attack and reached 200 in just 15 overs. The big South African brought up his second IPL hundred in just 37 balls. It was the joint third-fastest, alongside Yusuf Pathan. SRH posted a target of 279. Last year’s champions were never in the hunt to begin with.
None of the Knight Riders’ top five batters scored even a half-century. Notably, Andre Russell was extremely disappointed, as he got out for a first-ball duck on Harsh Dubey’s delivery. With 70 runs for five wickets, the responsibility was on IPL veteran Manish Pandey to help KKR reach a respectable score. Thanks to his and Harshit Rana’s big hits, they finished on 168 runs, ultimately losing the match by 110 runs. While KKR end the season on a disappointing note, Hyderabad will be high-spirited, having won their last three matches in a row.
Fans react to Sunrisers Hyderabad’s 110-run victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders
Many fans expected it to be a close affair, but it was the opposite. SRH made it a completely one-sided match with their unbelievable batting performance. People believed that it was just too little, too late. Some fans were disappointed with how the season went for last year’s runners-up.
One fan stated that it was a great way to finish the season with another victory. Another fan praised SRH’s comeback from the last position to the middle of the table with some important victories in the later stages of the tournament. Here are some of the top reactions from fans:
One user stated that the Sunrisers Hyderabad team this season perfectly avenged their loss last year. Another user noted that the non-qualified team was showing what they were capable of by defeating the top four teams. Many users got bored after watching the match, calling it one-sided. Another fan believed that Ishan Kishan and Mohammed Shami were the reasons why SRH didn’t qualify for the playoffs.