When Kolkata Knight Riders paid a record ₹24.75 crore for Mitchell Starc at the player auction last year, not many were convinced it was a wise purchase for a bowler returning to the IPL for the first time since 2015.
On Tuesday, the left-arm pacer justified his price tag and lived up to his reputation as a player for the big stage. Starc’s searing opening spell (4-0-34-3) in the PowerPlay broke the back of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s strong batting line-up as the latter finished with 159 in Qualifier 1 at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
That laid the platform for the stunning eight-wicket win as the Knight Riders booked a place in the summit clash in Chennai on Sunday.
The Aussie struck off the second ball of the innings, castling compatriot Travis Head who played an expansive shot off a delivery that swung away.
Starc could have picked up one more in the same over had Sunil Narine held on to Rahul Tripathi’s catch at backward-point when the batter was on four. In the next over, Vaibhav Arora accounted for Abhishek Sharma, who failed to clear the circle and a leaping Andre Russell.
With Starc swinging the ball at a brisk pace, skipper Shreyas Iyer decided to stick with the Aussie in the PowerPlay. And the 34-year-old delivered by producing a double blow in the fifth over. He had Nitish Kumar top-edging a pull and Shahbaz Ahmed playing onto his stumps as SRH slumped to 39 for four after opting to bat.
Just when the Knight Riders were on top, Tripathi (55, 35b, 7×4, 1×6) and Heinrich Klaasen (32, 21b, 3×4, 1×6) fought back for the Men in Orange as they stitched a 62-run stand off 37 balls for the fifth wicket.
Tripathi had a second reprieve on 14 when he survived a close leg-before appeal off Starc — Shreyas did not review the umpire’s decision — and went on to boost his side’s total.
Chasing a modest target, KKR openers Narine and Rahamanullah Gurbaz got their team off to a flier, scoring 63 in the PowerPlay. Then the two Iyers — Venkatesh (51 n.o., 28b, 5×4, 4×6), and Shreyas (58 n.o., 24b, 5×4, 4×6) — unleashed a range of shots during their unbroken 97-run partnership.
Venkatesh gave the charge to the pacers, smashing them down the ground and used his long levers to slog-sweep the spinners for huge sixes on the leg-side. Shreyas completed the job in style, hammering Head for three sixes and a four as KKR cantered home in the 14th over.
SCOREBOARD
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD
Travis Head b Starc 0 (2b), Abhishek Sharma c Russell b Vaibhav 3 (4b), Rahul Tripathi run out 55 (35b, 7×4, 1×6), Nitish Kumar c Gurbaz b Starc 9 (10b, 1×4), Shahbaz Ahmed b Starc 0 (1b), Heinrich Klaasen c Rinku b Varun 32 (21b, 3×4, 1×6), Abdul Samad c Shreyas b Harshit 16 (12b, 2×6), Sanvir Singh (Impact Player for Abhishek) b Narine 0 (1b), Pat Cummins c Gurbaz b Russell 30 (24b, 2×4, 2×6), Bhuvneshwar Kumar lbw b Varun 0 (4b), Vijayakanth Viyaskanth (not out) 7 (5b); Extras (w-5, nb-2): 7; Total (in 19.3 overs): 159.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-0 (Head, 0.2 overs), 2-13 (Abhishek, 1.5), 3-39 (Nitish, 4.5), 4-39 (Shahbaz, 4.6), 5-101 (Klaasen, 10.6), 6-121 (Tripathi, 13.2), 7-121 (Sanvir, 13.3), 8-125 (Samad, 14.4), 9-126 (Bhuvneshwar, 15.6).
KNIGHT RIDERS BOWLING
Starc 4-0-34-3, Vaibhav 2-0-17-1, Harshit 4-0-27-1, Narine 4-0-40-1, Russell 1.3-0-15-1, Varun 4-0-26-2.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS
Rahmanullah Gurbaz c Viyaskanth b Natarajan 23 (14b, 2×4, 2×6), Sunil Narine c Viyaskanth b Cummins 21 (16b, 4×4), Venkatesh Iyer (not out) 51 (28b, 5×4, 4×6), Shreyas Iyer (not out) 58 (24b, 5×4, 4×6); Extras (lb-9, w-2): 11; Total (for two wkts. in 13.4 overs): 164.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-44 (Gurbaz, 3.2), 2-67 (Narine, 6.2).
SUNRISERS BOWLING
Bhuvneshwar 3-0-28-0, Cummins 3-0-38-1, Natarajan 3-0-22-1, Viyaskanth 2-0-22-0, Head 1.4-0-32-0, Nitish 1-0-13-0.
Toss: SRH; PoM: Starc.
