Who Won The IPL In 2024
Kolkata Knight Riders have had a very befitting end to their season as they ended on top as champions, winning the third title with an eight-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final of IPL 2024. The game was played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, and it reflects that Kolkata Knight Riders dominated the goings-on against Sunrisers Hyderabad in all departments; hence, this is a very historic moment for the franchise and its fans.
SRH never really regained the tempo coming out strongly after winning the toss, and KKR bowlers, led by Andre Russell and Mitchell Starc, tore the SRH batting order into shreds. Incidentally, Russell took three wickets for 19 runs, and Starc broke the shackles with decisive wickets that packed SRH into a manageable 113 in just 18.3 overs. Besides this, Harshit Rana added two wickets to the team's scoreboard for SRH. The only silver lining of this match was skipper of South Africa and SRH Aiden Markram fighting at one end with 38 runs. Except for him, the whole side was a mess failing miserably under pressure.
Chasing a modest target, KKR's top order was going pretty sedate yet aggressive. In an alliance of majestic batting, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Venkatesh Iyer played out a match-winning knock. Iyer smashed it off just 28 balls, with 51 from the equation, while Gurbaz added 39 with some nice batting to finish the game in just 10.3 overs as SRH bowlers left with no answer to seal a pretty one-sided win for KKR.
A season based on consistency was the bet that KKR would rely on their way to the championship. Their team is pretty much led by their coach Chandrakant Pandit, who has the perfect balance in terms of matured heads like Russell and Starc, and a set of rising talents who score at key junctures in the tournament. This, of course, was defined by their winning campaign and mix of strategy and execution.
An all-too-bitter end awaited SRH in an otherwise resilient, time when they let the final game slip out of their hands and failed to come up to the required level of performance.
It ended on a high note with an emphatic win for KKR to finish the 2024 IPL season among the most successful franchises in this league. While it brought glory, it renewed their legacy in the IPL. The final season has shown how exciting and unpredictable this league can be, so eagerly awaited shall be IPL 2025.