Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) exhibited a dominant performance to outclass Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 8 wickets and clinch their third IPL trophy. KKR was the best batting and bowling side of the tournament. Chasing a below-par target of 114, Venkatesh Iyer ripped apart the SRH bowlers, producing a blistering knock of 52* from just 26 balls while Shreyas Iyer chipped in with an unbeaten 6.

Earlier, Pat Cummins’ decision to bat first backfired as Mithcell Starc bowled an absolute ripper to clean up Abhishek Sharma for just 2 in the first over. It was completely unplayable and arguably the ball of the tournament. In the next over, Vaibhav Arora dismissed SRH’s talisman Travis Head for a golden duck. Starc then got the better of Rahul Tripathi (9), who hit a half-century in Qualifier 2. Harshit Rana showed good variations in his pace and the same helped him to outfox Nitish Kumar Reddy for 13.

Aiden Markram (20), who looked to play an anchoring innings, walked back after playing an unwanted shot. KKR bowlers never allowed SRH batters to find their momentum as they kept taking wickets. Rana got the big fish Heinrich Klaasen (16) in the 15th over, which was a knockout blow for SRH. Cummins’ 24-run cameo took SRH over the 100-run mark. KKR bowled out SRH for 113, the lowest total in an IPL final. Andre Russell starred with a three-wicket haul, while Starc and Rana took wickets each.

In reply, Cummins gave his side a good start by dismissing Sunil Narine (6) in the second over. But Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Venkatesh played counter-attacking innings and never allowed the SRH bowlers to settle. Both added 91 runs to take the game away from SRH. Gurbaz departed after scoring 39. KKR won the one-sided final with ease. Narine won the ‘Most Valuable Player’ award for the third time, a new record.