Kolkata Knight Riders gun fast bowler Mitchell Starc hailed the collective team effort after they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets in the IPL final at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Sunday. The Australian said everyone stepped up for the team throughout the season.
SRH captain Pat Cummins won the toss and decided to bat first in the summit clash. Starc gave a perfect start to his team as he clean-bowled Abhishek Sharma with the ball of the tournament. The left-arm seamer then had Rahul Tripathi caught whereas Vaibhav Arora got the big wicket of Travis Head for a duck.
SRH kept losing wickets at regular intervals and they were skittled out for a paltry score of 113. The run-chase was a walk in the park for KKR as they won with 57 balls to spare. Venkatesh Iyer scored a fine knock of 52 runs off 26 balls whereas Rahmanullah Gurbaz added 39 off 32 balls.
Meanwhile, Starc was awarded Player of the Match for returning with impressive figures of 2-14 in three overs he bowled.
Starc said after the win, “Great night for KKR. What a game, what a series, what a season. Probably the two most exciting teams in the final, it was a great night. It was an upward journey from the start of the IPL till now. We’ve had a fantastic squad of bowlers and batters, our staff have been fantastic to get everyone peaking for the back end of the tournament. We’ve been such a consistent side, we haven’t had one or two people standout, it’s been contributions from everyone. Great to contribute personally, but the fact we had everyone contribute throughout has been a big part of the success.”
Starc added it was crucial for them to adapt to the conditions and deliver as a unit. The lanky pacer also showered praise on Shreyas Iyer for leading from the front as he was spot on with his bowling changes and field placements. Furthermore, Starc lauded the collective effort of the bowling unit as they were right on the money throughout the season.
The Australian added, “We lost the toss and got to use the ball first. Having watched the game a few nights ago here, not really sure what the wicket was going to do. We spoke about adapting to the conditions. Shreyas was fantastic with the way he used his bowlers and his fields, has been all season, so credit to him there. The bowling unit showed all the skills they have, the quicks and the spinners, their ability to adapt to find wicket-taking balls. that’s what you need in finals.”
Starc will now represent Australia in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
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