After the exhilarating journey of more than two months, Kolkata Knight Riders stood tall against all the odds and emerged as the winners of IPL 2024. The Shreyas Iyer-led side registered a thumping eight-wicket win over the mighty Sunrisers Hyderabad, who had a marvelous season with the bat. In the summit clash, KKR comfortably dominated the proceedings as they bundled out SRH for just 113. Later, they chased down the target in just 10.3 overs and clinched their third IPL trophy.
After the win, KKR skipper Iyer received the trophy from the BCCI president Roger Binny and secretary Jay Shah. As he received the trophy, Iyer recreated star footballer Lionel Messi’s pose while celebrating with his team.
Shreyas Iyer does Messi celebration with the IPL Trophy before giving it to Rinku Singh pic.twitter.com/7GjjY6K3TE
— ICT Fan (@Delphy06) May 26, 2024
This same step was done by Messi after he guided Argentina to the FIFA World Cup title in December 2022 in Qatar.
In a season dominated from start to finish, KKR’s bowling unit was inch perfect leaving Sunrisers in a shambles while bowling them out for a paltry 113 in 18.3 overs. It was the tournament’s lowest ever summit clash score. Venkatesh Iyer (52*), a forgotten India all-rounder, then helped KKR complete the formalities in just 10.3 overs.
He also ensured that fellow Iyer — skipper Shreyas — had a ‘Knight’ to remember after enduring a harrowing last four months where Indian cricket establishment robbed him of some dignity.
“This is what we demanded from the team and every individual. They stood up to the right occasion and the feeling is hard to express. It (wait) was so long, longer than the match. We played like invincibles throughout the season. There’s so much to cherish right now. It is pleasing, the performance has been flawless throughout. I am running out of words right now. We have been tremendous from game one, we stepped up today,” said Iyer after clinching the title.
“All we demanded from ourselves was to back each other whatever the situation is. The game could have either way. They have been playing phenomenal cricket – SRH – throughout the season. We were lucky to bowl first and every situation went in our favour. Thanks to SRH the way they played,” he added.
(With PTI Inputs)
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