Captain Shreyas Iyer led Kolkata Knight Riders to the final with a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 1 on Tuesday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
KKR completed the 160-run chase with 38 balls to spare, as the skipper scored an unbeaten 58 off 24 balls.
The KKR captain was greatly supported by Venkatesh Iyer, who scored an unbeaten 51 off 28 balls.
Meanwhile, Iyer became the first-ever captain in IPL history to lead two sides to the final. He took Delhi Capitals to the final in 2020, and KKR is the second side under Iyer's leadership to secure a place in the final.
Earlier, SRH won the toss and elected to bat first, hoping to post a formidable total. However, the decision backfired as KKR pacer Mitchell Starc wreaked havoc with a blistering spell during the powerplay.
Starc clean bowled opener Travis Head on just the second ball of the match before dismissing Nitish Reddy and Shahbaz Ahmed, leaving SRH struggling at 39/4 after five overs before the Australian was taken out of the attack.
Pat Cummins' men tried to regain the momentum courtesy of Rahul Tripathi (55) and Heinrich Klaasen (32) but KKR restricted them again in the final overs despite Pat Cummins scoring 30 from the lower order.
Starc bagged figures of 3/34 while Varun Chakravarthy claimed 2/26.
KKR's chase started strongly with Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23) and Sunil Narine (21) taking the charge. The two Iyers - Venkatesh (51*) and Shreyas (58*) - finished strongly with a 97-run stand.
KKR will now face the winners of Qualifier 2 in the final on May 26. SRH will wait for their opponent from Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), who will face in the Eliminator on May 22.
- Shreyas Iyer