IPL 2024 final: Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins won the toss at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium and decided to bat first against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday. However, such was KKR's domination that Cummins is likely to have regretted the decision soon after the first ball.
SRH openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, arguably the most destructive opening pair of this edition of the tournament, was up against Mitchell Starc and Vaibhav Arora. It was not exactly how SRH wanted the batting powerplay to pan out as both the openers were dismissed cheaply.
The in-form Nitish Reddy and Rahul Tripathi too, were sent back within the first ten overs as KKR bowlers produced an outstanding performance. Four bowlers were introduced in the first half of the innings and all of them were clinically economic.
Here is how the first 10 overs of the game turned out as KKR remain in full control of SRH at the Chepauk:
Over 1:
The first ball of IPL 2024 final was a dot ball. Abishek Sharma failed to make contact despite making a swing at Mitchell Starc's ball moving away from him.
Abhishek made contact for the first time in the third ball but was stopped in covers.
FIRST RUN! The first run of the IPL 2024 final came in the fourth ball of the first over when Abhishek Sharma complete a risky double after guiding one through the covers.
OUT! Mitchell Starc strikes in the fifth ball of his over. Abhishek Sharma (2 off 5) is castled as Starc breaks his defences.
Rahul Tripathi is off the mark right away.
SCORE: SRH 3/1
Over 2:
Travis Head finally comes on strike to face the final ball of the over.
OUT! Arora sends back the dangerous Australian for a golden duck. A short-pitched outswinger gets Head's edge and goes straight into the gloves of Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
Aiden Markram walks in.
SCORE: SRH 6/2
Over 3:
FIRST BOUNDARY! Tripathy scores a boundary off Starc to take the team score to double digits.
Markram also manages a boundary.
SCORE: SRH 15/2
Over 4:
Vaibhav Arora starts the over with two consecutive wides.
Three wides and three singles are all SRH get from the brilliant over from Arora.
SCORE: SRH 21/2
Over 5:
Iyer hands Starc a third over.
OUT! Starc gets Rahul Tripathi in the second ball of the over. A leading edge while trying to go big results in Tripathi firing one right up, only to be taken by a vigilant Ramandeep Singh inside the 30-year-box. The fielder had all the time in the world to settle down under the ball which felt like being stuck in the air for a long time. Rahul Tripathi goes for 9 off 13.
Nitish Reddy is the new batter.
Just two runs from the penultimate batting powerplay over for SRH.
SCORE: SRH 23/3
Over 6:
Shreyas Iyer decides not to introduce a third bowler in the PP. Vaibhav starts off with a wide before Markram punishes a short and wide delivery for four. Five runs come from the first ball of the final powerplay over.
Back-to-back boundaries from Markram; SRH finally trying to break free.
SIX! Nitish Reddy scores the first six of the game with one ball left in the power play. A slower short-pitches delivery is dispatched easily by the right-hander.
Arora delivers the expensive over the powerplay as Hyderabad manages 17 from it.
SCORE: SRH 40/3
Over 7:
Harshit Rana is introduced.
SRH begin strongly by smashing a four of the first ball.
Harshit Rana recovers yielding just a wide and two singles in the next four balls before having the last laugh...
OUT! Nitish Reddy is dismissed as Rahmanullah Gurbaz gets another catch behind the stumps.
A fuller delivery that came like a bullet after a series of slow and short balls gets Reddy. An effort to go straight backfires and hands Gurbaz a regulation catch. KKR strikes again ahead of strategic time out.
Heinrich Klaasen walks in.
SCORE: SRH 47/4
Over 8:
Sunil Narine is introduced.
The South African pair plays cautiously and sees off the over sans any risks. The spinner yields only four runs.
SCORE: SRH 51/4
Over 9:
Harshit Rana continues.
Again, the young Indian seamer bounces back although he is smashed for a boundary in the first ball. Only seven runs are given away as Markram and Klaasen remain cautious.
Over 10:
Markram and Klaasen look for singles but only manage three against Narine. SRH finish its first ten overs at a run rate of six runs per over.
SCORE: SRH 61/4
IPL 2024 final: KKR Playing XI: Shreyas Iyer (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (w), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy.
IPL 2024 final: SRH Playing XI: Pat Cummins (c), Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen (w), Shahbaz Ahmed, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan.