The Qualifier 1 of Indian Premier League (IPL) invariably generates considerable interest. This is only natural since the match features the top two sides of the league phase. This year, the Qualifier 1 between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) was expected to raise edge-of-the-seat excitement given the tremendous form both teams were in.
However, it turned out to be a damp squib as SRH collapsed, resulting in the side getting dismissed for a total of 159. KKR reached the target of 160 losing just two wickets and 38 balls remaining. A review of this game will show that SRH floundered badly when their opening batsman Travis Head, who had been giving them explosive starts all through the championship, was dismissed without scoring in the very first over.
Abhishek Sharma, his partner. went in the next over and when Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shahbaz Ahmed were dismissed in the fifth over, the fight was well and truly over for SRH. And the bowler who inflicted the maximum damage on SRH was Mitchell Starc, the Aussie left-arm pacer, who took the wickets of Head, Reddy and Shahbaz.
Starc went on to finish with 3/34 in his allotted four overs, which won him the player-of-the-match award as well. Starc almost did an encore in the final against SRH on Sunday. This time he accounted for Abhishek (2) in the opening over and sent back the dangerous Rahul Tripathi (9) to set up KKR's triumph.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) were expected to win the Eliminator, where .