The Kolkata Knight Riders cruised to victory in the Indian Premier League final against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai on Sunday.
On a night where two months of majestic T20 cricket would culminate, KKR were dominant from start to finish — with Mitchell Starc stealing the show yet again.
Despite losing the toss, Shreyas Iyer’s troops were delighted to bowl first — having a field day against the record-breaking Sunrisers.
The Hyderabad franchise, who had put so many teams away with the bat this season, were left shell-shocked when their star trio of Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi all fell in the powerplay.
The collapse would only prolong further as Pat Cummins’ side made just 113 before being bowled out at the back-end of a dismal innings.
The well below-par score meant that the run chase was short and sweet — with Venkatesh Iyer making a memorable 50 to help his side to the prize.
Starc got man of the match while Sunil Narine, who took 1/16 on the night, was crowned player of the tournament for his performances with both bat and ball.
Virat Kohli claimed the second orange cap of his career for most runs scored while Harshal Patel was awarded the purple cap for most wickets taken this season.
The Knight Riders’ consistence throughout made this a special campaign, with the third trophy in their history the reason for prolonged celebrations both inside Chepauk and surely all around Kolkata, too.
Team owner Shah Rukh Khan took an extended lap of honour to applaud the fans for their support before Iyer and his team lifted the trophy to bring a memorable season to a close.
The ICC T20 World Cup is next on the calendar. It begins on 2 June live from the United States and West Indies.
Pictured above: Kolkata Knight Riders
Image source: @kkriders
