As the cricket-cherishing crowd of Chennai thronged to the hallowed MA Chidambaram on IPL Final Sunday to witness the clash between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad for the grandest prize in T20 franchise, the players were gearing up for a date with destiny at the fabled Southern state Tamil Nadu’s chronicled capital city.
The teams had followed ambiguous paths to the summit clash, with Kolkata cruising into the final with a win in the first qualifier after topping the charts, while Hyderabad took the elongated route to the championship fixture, earning the right to play the title in the second time of asking with a win in the second qualifier.
IPL 2024 Final: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad – LIVE
The phenomenon of duality also spilled onto Australians, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, who have endured a season of varying natures.
The duo from down under sent the nation into a tailspin at the ICC ODI World Cup towards the end of last year, which propelled their stock at the auction. The table dynamics made the seamers the two highest earners in the history of the tournament with bids north of the 20 Crore Indian Rupees mark, 24.75 C for Starc from the Kolkata franchise and 20.5 C for Cummins from the Hyderabad unit.
While Cummins lapped up popular support for headlining the side’s new all-out-attack philosophy, Starc had to endure harsh criticism for his sub-par performances during the initial phase of the tournament.
The pacer was taken for 53 runs in his first game of the season against their final opponent, SRH, before RCB further hampered the seamer’s start to the season by taking him for 47 runs in his second outing. The Aussie had conceded triple digits in the opening two games without featuring on the wicket-taker’s list.
Despite KKR’s triumphs, thanks to their unit pulling the weight, Starc was subjected to scrutiny for not justifying his hefty price tag. Memes made the rounds on social media at the cost of the pace bowler.
He had a reprieve with a 2-27 run spell against Delhi Capitals in the third game, which helped his side with the tie, before they succumbed to their first loss of the season to Chennai Super Kings as Starc went without a wicket in Chennai on the day.
Starc stuck to his guns and registered his first three-fer in the season with a statement spell against Lucknow Super Giants at an economy of just 7 per over in his four, before being benched for precautionary reasons due to a finger injury the game against Punjab Kings. The Preity Zinta-owned unit produced a record chase in the absence of Starc to hand Kolkata only their second loss of the tournament.
Starc returned in the following game as KRR did the double over DC with Starc picking up a wicket but leaking 43 runs before, dismissing four Mumbai Indians batters in his side’s 24-run win over the five-time champions.
The tall Aussie was taken for 22 runs against LSG in his two overs against KL Rahul’s men but added a wicket to his tally but couldn’t replicate his spell in their second fixture against MI as he was tossed the ball for just an over in the fabled Eden Gardens leg.
KKR’s final two group fixtures against Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals ended without results, but the Shah Rukh Khan-owned team topped the charts despite Starc blowing hot and cold.
However, as history bears evidence, Aussies seem to have a penchant for retaliation when backed into a corner, and the most expensive purchase of the event rose to the event as he wreaked havoc against SRH in the first qualifier game, demonstrating his seam abilities with a man of the match performance for his three wickets for thirty-four runs, that set up a platform for KKR to race into the final of the event.
But, the 34-year-old from Baulkham Hills wasn’t done tormenting Hyderabad yet as he ran riot against the Sun Network-owned side in the grand finale of the event.
The menacing frame of the 6’ 4” seamer delighted those dressed in purple as he removed the dangerous Abhishek Sharma in the opening over of the summit clash after setting the youngster up for a walk back to the hut.
Three balls swinging outside away from the stumps followed by a jaffa that clipped the top of the bails to give the southpaw the marching orders put SRH on the backfoot. Starc was taken for 10 runs in his second over of the spell, but skipper Shreyas Iyer persisted with the lead pacer for his third over of the game in succession and it yielded dividends as the Aussie removed Rahul Tripathi to pile more misery on the team led by his compatriot, who seemed to have shown him up.
In an act of poetic justice, Starc seems to have redeemed himself in the eyes of the KKR faithful with a menacing spell in the grandest of T20 stages against SRH, the very same team that took him for over half-a-century of runs in the opener between the sides just over a month ago.
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