(Image source from: x.com/IPL)
On Sunday, Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) turned a high-voltage battle into a one-sided contest and defeated Hyderabad (SRH) in the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Chidambaram (S.H.) Stadium. Mitchell Starc showcased his bowling prowess at the top of the cash-rich league, helping KKR beat SRH by just 113 points as the 2016 winners recorded their lowest total in an IPL final. Australian left-armer Quick Starc took two wickets and conceded 14 runs against Hyderabad. Andre Russell and Harshit Rana shared a five-wicket haul at Chepauk, dismissing SRH in a meager 18.3 overs. In reply, opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz quickly struck 39 off 32 balls while Venkatesh Iyer remained unbeaten on 52 for 26 as KKR defeated SRH in the IPL 2024 final. With this comfortable win, Kolkata lifted the famous trophy for the third time in the history of the IPL.
Although there is no official announcement of the IPL, the winner of this edition of the tournament will receive the same amount as last year. So, the total prize money of the participating teams in IPL 2024 was Rs 46.5 million. KKR will get Rs 20 lakh for winning IPL 2024 as BCCI will not revise the prize list. Sunrisers Hyderabad comes second and gets Rs 12.5 million, while former champions Rajasthan Royals gets Rs 70 million and Royal Challengers Bangalore gets Rs 6.5 million, earning Rs 12.5 million this season. Batting icon Virat Kohli will end IPL 2024 as the top run-getter of the season and earn Rs 1 crore. Kohli topped the batting charts and won the Orange Cap in IPL 2024. Kings Punjab pacer Harshal Patel ended the season as the highest wicket-taker and won the Purple Cap. Patel will also receive Rs 1 lakh for winning the Purple Cap. The winners of the Emerging Player and Most Valuable Player awards will receive Rs 2 million and Rs 12 million respectively.
The world's most expensive cricket tournament ended on Sunday with Kolkata winning the title against Pat Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai. Mitchell Starc justified his eye-popping auction price with a magical performance as Kolkata Knight Riders put on an all-out bowling show to send Sunrisers Hyderabad to the pavilion for 113 runs. This is the lowest SRH rating for a team batting first in an IPL final. He bowled 18.3 overs. RCB failed to make it through the playoffs, causing a lot of angst among the fans. But fans had reason to smile last night. India's star batsman Virat Kohli ended the 2024 IPL season with the Orange Cap for most performances in a season, becoming the only Indian to win the award twice. King Kohli scored 741 runs in 15 matches at an average of 61.75 with one century and 5 fifties. In contrast, Harshal Patel of Punjab Kings won the purple cap. He finished 14 matches with 24 wickets, an economy rate of 9.73 and an average of 19.87. He won his first purple cap in 2021 for Royal Challengers Bangalore, taking 32 wickets in one season. Kolkata Knight Riders enigmatic opener Varun Chakraborty had a chance to overtake Patel in the last over of the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Chepauk. Varun needed five wickets to overtake Patel in the rankings. However, he claimed the only wicket of Shahbaz Ahmed as the Raiders claimed their third IPL title.
