Heinrich Klaasens remarkable attempt to catch out Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Shreyas Iyer turned out to be in vain due to a collision with his teammate Rahul Tripathi during the IPL 2024 Qualifier 1 in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. Consequently Iyer received a lucky break at 10 runs off just eight balls.
The incident occurred within the 10th over of the Knight Riders run chase. During this intense moment, Heinrich Klaasen, positioned strategically, watched as Shreyas Iyer attempted a daring scoop shot off Vijaykanth Viyaskanth but to everyones surprise the ball ricocheted off Heinrich Klaasen before elegantly soaring through the air on the leg side.
Heinrich Klaasen sprinted to his left to execute a diving catch, but Rahul Tripathi got in the way, and the two collided. The ball popped out of the gloves, giving Shreyas Iyer a respite. He scored an undefeated half-century and led his team to victory.
Watch Heinrich Klaasen and Rahul Tripathi Collision video below:
KKR beat SRH by 8 wickets to qualify for IPL 2024 final
In a spectacular allround performance the Kolkata Knight Rider overcame the SunRisers Hyderabad triumphing by eight wickets on Tuesday. This victory ensures the twotime champions advancement to the IPL 2024 final set to unfold at Chepauk in Chennai on May 26.
Batting first, SRH were dismissed for 159 in 19.3 overs. They got off to the worst possible start, with Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma leaving for a duck and three runs, respectively. Nitish Reddy and Shahbaz Ahmed soon went down for nine and a golden duck, respectively, leaving them at 39/4.
Rahul Tripathi excelled with the bat, collecting 59 runs off 35 balls, including one six and seven boundaries. Heinrich Klaasen, captain Pat Cummins, and Abdul Samad scored 32 (21), 30 (24), and 16 (12), respectively.
Mitchell Starc showcased exceptional performance as the standout bowler for the Knight Riders concluding with figures of 3/34. Concurrently Varun Chakaravarthy contributed significantly by claiming two crucial wickets.
KKR in response comfortably reached the target with 6.2 overs to spare. Starting strongly Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sunil Narine laid a solid foundation for the Knight Riders contributing 23 runs off 14 balls and 21 off 16 balls respectively.
Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer then put up an undefeated 97-run stand to help the squad cross the finish line. Venkatesh hit 51* from 28 balls, including four sixes and five boundaries. Shreyas scored 58 from 24 deliveries, with the same number of boundaries as Venkatesh. SRH skipper Pat Cummins and T Natarajan each took one wicket.
The SunRisers are poised to confront the champion of the IPL 2024 Eliminator where a battle of skills unfolds between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the Rajasthan Royals vying for a coveted slot in Qualifier 2.
