 "Shane Watson")
Ahead of the Indian Premier League 2024 Final between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium, former Australia cricketer Shane Watson said that the Pat Cummins led-side has a slight advantage but the Knight Riders are favourites to lift the title.
KKR finished the league stage on the top of the points table with nine wins, three losses and two no results, giving them 20 points. They earned a direct spot in the final by defeating SRH in the qualifier one. SRH got a second shot at the title in the qualifier two against Rajasthan Royals (RR) and they made the most of it by defeating the Men in Pink by 36 runs.
Both teams have been incredible with the bat this season. KKR and SRH have posted six 200-plus totals this season, three each. SRH also made the highest IPL total over, 287/3 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). When the tournament is all said and done, it will be looked at as something game-changing, something that could bring a paradigm shift to the way T20s are played and the credit will go to these two teams.
"It gives Sunrisers an edge for sure as they know how the wicket plays, especially when there is no dew. They will have to back-up, and regenerate their mental and physical energy quickly, but for me, KKR are the favourites. They are fresh as a daisy; they have got world-class players through their team, and they are going to be very hard to defeat," Watson said on Jio Cinema.
Pat Cummins is a captain who lifted SRH from inconsistency, dullness, and poor home outings that defined their last two seasons or so. Having won the ICC World Test Championship, ICC Cricket World Cup, and retained the Ashes series with Australia, an IPL title will add much to his legacy as a leader. With a T20 World Cup already under his belt as a player, Cummins could truly call himself the 'world conqueror' if he secures the biggest T20 franchise league.
Sunrisers Hyderabad Squad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Abdul Samad, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Jaydev Unadkat, Shahbaz Ahmed, Umran Malik, Sanvir Singh, Glenn Phillips, Mayank Markande, Mayank Agarwal, Washington Sundar, Anmolpreet Singh, Upendra Yadav, Jhatavedh Subramanyan, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Marco Jansen, Akash Maharaj Singh.
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