The first qualifier game of the Indian Premier League 2024 got off to a dramatic start. Mitchell Starc was the hero with the new ball as he got rid of Travis Head for a duck on the very first over of the game. The early wicket of the dangerous batter not only jolted Sunrisers Hyderabad but also gave Kolkata Knight Riders a dream start in the game.
Head tried to get off the mark with a forceful shot, which was saved on the game's first ball. On the next ball, Starc bowled a full ball that Head tried to play straight down the ground. There was a massive gap between the bat as the Australian left-arm seamer disturbed the stumps of his teammate.
There was immediate celebration as the KKR side knew what a huge wicket this was. Travis Head has been one of the most destructive batters during the IPL 2024 season and has given SRH many good starts and put the opposition bowlers under pressure early in the game.
Mitchell Starc leaves Sunrisers reeling
Earlier, Pat Cummins won the toss and chose to bat first as both sides decided to go in with the same team. After the early wicket of Travis Head, the onus was on Abhishek Sharma to come good with the bat. The youngster, though, failed to perform as he was out to Vaibhav Arora for 3, caught by Andre Russell.
Nitish Kumar Reddy joined Rahul Tripathi and tried to steady the ship with a stand of 26 runs for the 3rd wicket. Rahul Tripathi, in particular, played a few delightful shots to take the fight back to the KKR bowlers.
Mitchell Starc then struck twice in a single over when he first had Nitish Reddy caught by Rahmanullah Gurbaz for 9. The very next ball, Shahbaz Ahmed saw his middle stump lay flat on the ground for a first-ball duck.
Starc, who had struggled earlier in the season, got three huge wickets to leave the SRH side reeling in the powerplay. Had KKR taken DRS against Rahul Tripathi when Starc went up for a huge appeal, SRH would have been in further trouble with the bat.
Meanwhile, the winner of this game will reach the finals to be played on Sunday, while the loser will wait for the winner of the game between RCB and RR to play the 2nd qualifier on Friday in Chennai.