A new Indian Premier League champion will be crowned on Sunday when the IPL 2024 final takes place in Chennai as the Kolkata Knight Riders go up against the Sunrisers Hyderabad for the biggest franchise title in world cricket.
Both of these sides have won this illustrious tournament in the past but neither of them have lifted the trophy recently so this will be a big day for two sides which are packed full of star quality with the bat and the ball.
Kolkata Knight Riders
There is no doubt that the Kolkata Knight Riders have been the standout team of the season but they will know that none of that counts for anything if they don’t perform to their best in this final. They have given themselves the ideal chance to win this match though. They had qualified for the top two early enough in the regular season that they didn’t have to worry about pushing themselves to the end and then they won the first qualifier to give them maximum preparation time for this final.
The other thing they have done is they saw off the Sunrisers in that qualifier so they have got a bit of a mental edge on them as well heading into this match. Kolkata have been brutal with the bat throughout the competition but the longer it has gone on the more their bowlers have warmed to the task and you sense that with the huge experience they have within their ranks, they are going to be a very hard team to beat here.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
The Sunrisers Hyderabad are enjoying a much better campaign than for a while. Considering that the best that they had done in the previous three seasons was finish seventh just to make the playoffs would have been a fine achievement but they have gone one further than that and now they will play for the title after a campaign in which they have blitzed sides in the main but they have also shown they can do things the other way too.
The positive for the Sunrisers here is they have played in Chennai as recently as Friday and got the win they wanted when they were playing knockout cricket, something Kolkata haven’t done yet, but the negative is the short turnaround and what that win would have taken out of them. One thing is for sure, if they bowl as well as they did on Friday in this match then with the explosive power they have with the bat they are likely to be genuine contenders.
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Key Players
I always think the captains are the key men in these finals. Shreyas Iyer seems to be a cool customer but he could have a big role to play in tying the batting innings together. If he does that Kolkata should post a daunting total.
One man who could stop all that from happening is Pat Cummins. He has retained The Ashes and won the World Cup as a captain in the last nine months and now he is looking for more silverware here. If he can get into this Kolkata line up early the orange army could have their joy.
Betting
You can make a case for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in this final obviously but I do believe that the Kolkata Knight Riders are a poor matchup for them and I am going to side with the team who have been the best in the competition all season. I think Kolkata can win this match if their batting fails them because they have a really strong bowling attack whereas I’m just not as convinced that if the Sunrisers top order fail that they can get themselves out of trouble.
The other case to be made for the Kolkata Knight Riders is we now have the last six winners of Qualifier 1 who have gone on and won the title so that seems to be a massive advantage. We should remember that this competition is a lengthy slog of more than two months of travelling, barely sleeping, playing and then going on the merry go round again so those extra three days that Kolkata have had to prepare could be the difference too. Kolkata are 2-0 against the Sunrisers this season and I think they complete the sweep here.
Tips
Back Kolkata Knight Riders to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Boylesports
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