Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer Mitchell Starc delivered a ripper to bowl out Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) opener Travis Head for a two-ball duck during the IPL 2024 Qualifier 1 between two teams at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, May 21.
The dismissal took place in the 2nd over of the SRH's batting when Travis Head attempted to hit the ball down the ground off Starc's good length delivery. However, the ball managed to find the gap between the SRH opener's bat and pad and crashed into the stumps, providing a big breakthrough for KKR by Mitchell Starc.
Travis Head suffered a second duck on the trot in the ongoing IPL season. His first duck came in the Sunrisers Hyderabad's last league stage match against Punjab Kings, where he was bowled out on the first ball off Arshdeep Singh.
Sunrisers Hyderabad's skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat first against Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders. SRH lost an early wicket in Travis Head on the second ball of the first over. Abhishek Sharma was joined by Rahul Tripathi to carry on Sunrisers Hyderabad's innings.
Abhishek and Rahul would have hoped for good partnership after an early dismissal of Head, but the former had a short stay as he was dismissed for 4 by Vaibhav Arora at 13/2.
KKR and SRH fight for a Final berth
The Qualifier 1 holds significance as the winner will directly qualify for the Final at Chepauk Stadium in Chennai on May 26. Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad are considered among hot favourites alongside Rajasthan Royals an Royal Challengers Bengaluru to win the coveted IPL trophy.
Shreyas Iyer-led KKR finished the league stage as table toppers after their two matches against Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals got washed out due to rain and RR's defeat to Punjab Kings. For the first time in their IPL history, Kolkata Knight Riders managed to finish on the top of the points table after the league stage.
Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other hand, witnessed a brilliant turnaround under the captaincy of Pat Cummins, who was roped in by the franchise's for a whopping 20.50 crore. SRH secured the second spot on the points after defeating Punjab Kings in their last league stage match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on May 19, Sunday.
