Mitchell Starc justified his eye-popping auction billing with a magical delivery as Kolkata Knight Riders produced a complete bowling performance to dismantle Sunrisers Hyderabad for a paltry 113 in what is turning out to be a lopsided IPL-17 final here Sunday.
This is the lowest total by a team batting first in an IPL final as SRH were shot out in 18.3 overs.
It won't be wrong to say that KKR has one hand on their third IPL title and deservingly so after playing brilliant cricket from start to finish and the one-sided title clash is a testimony to their total domination of Season 17.
Starc (2/14), who peaked at the right time after a disappointing league phase, made full use of overcast conditions as league's break-out youngster Abhishek Sharma (2) got one that swung late, drawing him forward. The delivery eluded the outside edge of Abhishek's bat and clipped the off-bail.
The delivery could have got any batter out and it was just that the unfortunate Abhishek's name was written on it on the day.
It was the kind of ball that would always send shivers down the spine of those sitting in the dug-out and even Travis Head (0), who had a forgettable business end in this IPL, wasn't left behind.
Vaibhav Arora, who bowls at barely 130 clicks, also made full use of conditions and got one on fuller length delivery to shape away from Head, who could only nick it to stumper Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Head now has three ducks in his last four games.
Rahul Tripathi (9) was busy and fidgety and the extra pace and bounce did him in when Starc fired one which held its angular trajectory and hit Tripathi's willow at a place which was touch above the sweet spot as the shot ballooned up.
Ramandeep Singh completed the catch and by the time Powerplay ended, SRH were 40 for 3. Starc's first spell (3-0-14-2) was complete value for his Rs 24.75 crore price tag.
Once the Powerplay was ended, Heinrich Klaasen (16 off 17 balls) was left to do the heavy lifting with Harshit Rana (2/24 in 4 overs) and Andre Russell (3/19 in 2.3 overs) tightening the noose in the middle overs with wickets of Nitish Reddy (13) and Aiden Markram (20) respectively to effectively end SRH's challenge.
At 62 for 5, there weren't any hopes of a fightback in SRH camp as ruthlessness KKR pace battery aided by extra bounce and movement in the air and a shade off the pitch made a lot of difference.
When KKR comes out to bat, it should be a mere formality. PTI KHS KHS UNG
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