It's Harshal Patel who receives the Purple Cap award!
A wonderful season with the ball bagging scalps from matches #TATAIPL | #Final | #TheFinalCall | @PunjabKingsIPL pic.twitter.com/hGvh6sXgQt

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 26, 2024

A dominating season of runs with the bat in matches
The Orange Cap award for the season belongs to none other than Virat Kohli #TATAIPL | #TheFinalCall | @imVkohli | @RCBTweets pic.twitter.com/ZbR3rIy04u

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 26, 2024

Nitish Kumar Reddy concludes a successful season for Sunrisers Hyderabad
He wins the Emerging Player award for his impressive performances throughout #TATAIPL | #TheFinalCall | @SunRisers pic.twitter.com/MwZT9IuFep

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 26, 2024

A lightning spell to light up the #Final
Mitchell Starc bags the Player of the Match award when it mattered the most
Scorecard https://t.co/lCK6AJCdH9#TATAIPL | #KKRvSRH | #Final | #TheFinalCall pic.twitter.com/j0igMZ3Hz1

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 26, 2024

"I think it was pretty tough, the last two years. It was touch and go - we didn't qualify. It needed a lot of introspection and now we can savour this moment. He (Harshit Rana) has been outstanding. It's about backing your strengths. I think Mitch (Mitchell Starc) coming into the team boosted the confidence of other youngsters in the side. He is probably the best bowler in the world. Once he understood the Indian conditions, he was excellent. Spinners mature with age, and with Sunny (Sunil Narine) and Varun (Chakaravarthy) bowling in tandem, it was superb. He (Narine) brought a totally different dimension to our batting. It was Gautam (Gambhir) who insisted that he opened and it paid dividends. It's a great night and now it's time to celebrate," said KKR bowling coach Bharat Arun.

SRK in love with his team's performance#KKRvSRH #IPLonJioCinema #IPLFinalonJioCinema #TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/6eWvce34ih

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) May 26, 2024

Bowling Brilliance!
The fantastic spells that turned things around for their respective teams
Scorecard https://t.co/lCK6AJCdH9#TATAIPL | #KKRvSRH | #Final | #TheFinalCall pic.twitter.com/aXjqyemEug

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 26, 2024

Respect for @SunRisers. One bad game doesn't define the exceptional season you've had in any way. Some unforgettable performances, and a top #TATAIPL2024 season for the men in orange https://t.co/mSyf4T5M8p

— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) May 26, 2024

"My mom is watching from the home. She is feeling good now. I asked mom before the match if she wanted anything. She said just the win. When Salt was playing, I wasn't expecting to get a chance but I knew it's a long tournament and I needed to be ready. Once I got the chance, I was well prepared," said Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

"My role is to take wickets with the new ball. After that the spinners were doing their jobs. So today also the aim was to take wickets in the powerplay, which happened as well," said Vaibhav Arora, who returned figures of 1 for 24 in three overs.

"I want to share one short story that when GG (Gautam Gambhir) bhaiya was named the mentor, I sent him a long message as I was really happy. But he replied saying, 'Thank you but I would be happy if we stand at the podium with the trophy in our hands.' Today is that day and I will never forget that message," said Nitish Rana.

"It means everything. I started playing IPL in the first season and it has taken me 16 years for the first title after two finals. I am really happy for the boys. I cannot express how happy I am. The big man (Andre Russell) turning up as usual. It is the most surreal feeling I have had in a long time," said Abhishek Nayar.

KKR's assistant coach and former player Abhishek Nayar gets a lot of acknowledgement from the players post the game. "All I can think right now is of the person who built this Indian core: Abhishek Nayar. 'Please come here'," said Varun Chakravarathy while asking Abhishek to come in front of camera. Meanwhile, Venkatesh Iyer said: "Really happy with it. As Varun mentioned, Abhishek Nayar deserves all the credit in the world. Some contributions go unnoticed, I want to make sure they don't. This guy deserves all the credit in the world for the way he has been working for this franchise."

"No words to describe," said Andre Russell while trying to hold his tears. "It means so much. I am happy that all of us were very disciplined and worked towards one goal. This franchise has done a lot for me. It's a big gift from all of us to them."

The moment
Champions of #TATAIPL 2024 - Kolkata Knight Riders #KKRvSRH #IPLonJioCinema #IPLFinalonJioCinema pic.twitter.com/wmbNP1ZlCC

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) May 26, 2024

KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan is elated over the victory of KKR, so is the case with their mentor and former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir. Meanwhile, SRH owner Kavya Maran is in tears. He team fought well till the previous game but was simply outplayed by KKR tonight.

Kolkata Knight Riders have won the game by 8 wickets. They have clinched a third IPL title. It is a first IPL title for them since 2014. They first won the trophy in 2012.

A comprehensive performance on the day that mattered #KKRvSRH #IPLonJioCinema #IPLFinalonJioCinema #TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/GEQZBeGKcF

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) May 26, 2024

8.5 - Shahbaz Ahmed has got the wicket of Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Umpire has raised his finger over the appeal but Gurbaz has decided to review it. As the ball tracking and UltraEdge is not available at the moment, the TV umpire stays with the on-ground umpire's decision. Gurbaz is clearly livid while walking off the ground. 

21 runs have come off the last two overs for Kolkata Knight Riders. Shahbaz Ahmed was hit for 12 before Jaydev Unadkat conceded 9 in the following over. KKR are almost there. They need only 21 runs in 72 balls.

20 runs came off the T Natarajan over. Venkatesh Iyer slammed him for consecutive fours before slamming a six and then a four again. Kolkata Knight Riders need 42 runs in 84 balls.

KKR 72/1 (6)

Kolkata Knight Riders stay in command. They need 68 runs more to win this game in the remaining 96 balls. It must be a cakewalk for them from this point. Both Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Venkatesh Iyer are looking well in control. 

KKR 46/1 (4)

Venkatesh Iyer is firing on all cylinders and Bhuvneshwar Kumar is at the receiving end of it. Venkatesh started the over with a four before slamming back-to-back sixes to Bhuvi. 16 runs came off the first three balls of the over. Two singles came off the next two balls and then a couple.

Pat Cummins strikes! Sunil Narine departs after scoring 6 runs off 2 balls. It was a back of length ball and Narine got a leading edge on it. Shahbaz Ahmed came from deep mid-wicket and took the catch comfortably. 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar with the new ball in hand. Rahmanullah Gurbaz is at the crease. Sunil Narine is at the other end. Here we go...

113 SRH vs KKR in Chennai tonight

125/9 CSK vs MI in Kolkata in 2013

128/6 RPS vs MI in Hyderabad in 2017

129/8 MI vs RPS in Hyderabad in 2017

Andre Russell gets the wicket of Pat Cummins and that will be the end of the SunRisers Hyderabad innings. They are all out for the score of 113. This is clearly a below-par total on any surface in IPL. Meanwhile, this also sees SRH register the lowest team total in the history of an IPL final. 

SRH 113 (18.3)

Here is the first wicket for Sunil Narine in the match. A much-derserved one for him. He bowed really well in the first three overs but gets a wicket in his final one. Jaydev Unadkat got the ball hit his front pad while trying to work the ball on the leg side. The ball then hit the off stump but bails did not come off. KKR reviewed and got the wicket as the ball was found to be hitting the leg stump when it crashed on the front pad of Unadkat.

SRH 113/9 (17.5)

Harshit Rana concedes 10 runs in his final over. He returned figures of 2 for 24 in his four overs while also bowling a wicket maiden. Three more overs left in the SRH innings.

Pat Cummins hit a Sunil Narine delivery into the hands of long-on but Pat Cummins stationed there dropped the catch. 

Harshit Rana has dismissed Heinrich Klaasen and the last pure batter of SRH also departs. Rana is running in joy and the KKR fans have got no bounds. Even KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan is clapping in happiness. Meanwhile, SRH owner Kavya Maran was dejected in the stands. 

Second wicket for Andre Russell and SRH are now 7 down. KKR are truly dominating this game and SRH seem out of competition now. Their batters are falling like a pack of cards. It was a fuller delivery outside off stump from Russell and Abdul Samad paid the price of chasing it. He edged it to wicketkeeper Gurbaz.

SRH 77/7 (12.4)

Another one bites the dust! Shahbaz Ahmed has been dismissed by Varun Chakaravarthy. He played a sweep shot but got an edge on the ball and lost his wicket. Sunil Narine took the catch at short fine leg. SRH have now been forced to use Impact Player in the first innings. Abdul Samad comes in. 

SRH 71/6 (11.5)

Andre Russell comes and gets a wicket off the very first ball he has bowled in the game. Just when it looked that SRH need to accelerate, they lost another wicket. It was a short ball and Markram pulled it into the hands of Mitchell Starc.

SRH 62/5 (10.2)

Sunil Narine has bowled yet another economical over. He has conceded only three runs in it. In the two overs bowled, Narine has given away only 7. SRH's scoring rate is 6.1. They not only have to save wickets, but also need to accelerate a bit.

SRH 61/4 (10)

Harshit Rana was hit for a four on the first ball of the over after Heinrich Klaasen got an edge on the ball. Rana, however, still managed to keep it an economical over by conceding only 7 runs in it.

After some superb stuff from the KKR pacers in the first seven overs, spin has been introduced in the game. Sunil Narine comes up with his first over and concedes only four runs in it. SRH need to rebuild. Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen need to stitch a solid partnership to bring SRH back in the game.

Another wicket for KKR and SRH are in serious trouble now. They have lost four wickets. It was a sensational delivery from Harshit Rana. He pitched it full and made it swing from there. The ball swung away from Nitish Reddy and took the outside edge of his bat. Rahmanullah Gurbaz took the catch.

SRH 47/4 (7)

Harshit Rana comes into the attack and Aiden Markram welcomes him with a crunching four on the off side. It was slightly short from Rana with a bit of width on offer and Markram slammed it for a boundary through the right of backward point fielder.

SRH 44/3 (6.1)

Aiden Markram played the ball towards the mid-off fielder and wanted to take a quick single. KKR captain Shreyas Iyer was the man standing there. He collected the ball well and threw it in time but failed to hit the stumps at the non-striker's end.  

SRH are three down in 4.2 overs. This is terrific bowling from Mitchell Starc as he claims his second wicket. It was a good length ball and Tripathi wanted to whip it on the leg side but got a leading edge on it before Ramandeep Singh took the catch comfortably. 

SRH 21/3 (4.2)

Vaibhav Arora has bowled a six-run over despite conceding three wides in it. SRH are not scoring even six runs per over. They have only two overs of powerplay left. They should aim to get the maximum out of it.  

Mitchell Starc has bowled a nine-run over but SRH are still under tremendous pressure as the ball is swinging beautifully. Credit also goes to Starc for using his skills in the best possible way. Markram got a thick edge on the fourth delivery of the over but he was lucky that the ball went wide of first slip and ran away for a four. 

Another one goes down! Travis Head is out and SRH are in all sorts of trouble. They have lost both their openers inside two overs. It was a length ball from Vaibhav Arora that was leaving Head but the batter got an outside edge on it.

The #SRH openers are back in the hut
This some start from the @KKRiders
Follow the Match https://t.co/lCK6AJCdH9#TATAIPL | #KKRvSRH | #Final | #TheFinalCall pic.twitter.com/zAc6iPMeXR

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 26, 2024

SRH 6/2 (2)

Abhishek Sharma was lucky there to survive on a close run-out chance on the previous delivery but this time he fails to survive. Mitchell Starc has bowled a top-notch delivery to get better of Abhishek. It was a fuller ball that pitched and swung away from Abhishek. The ball squared the batter before hitting the top of off-stump. Oh, this is a dream delivery for any pacer!

AN ABSOLUTE RIPPER!
As spectacular as it gets from Mitchell Starc
He gets the in-form Abhishek Sharma early
Watch the match LIVE on @JioCinema and @StarSportsIndia#TATAIPL | #KKRvSRH | #Final | #TheFinalCall pic.twitter.com/K5w9WIywuR

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 26, 2024

SRH 2/1 (0.5)

Mitchell Starc with the new ball in hand. Abhishek Sharma is on strike, while Travis Head is at the other end. Here we go...

If the match is abandoned on Sunday, it would be played on the Reserve Day, on Monday. The BCCI would hope to have a full 20-over per side action possible if the game gets postponed to the reserve day. But, a 5-over-per-side contest is also enough in case of rain, with Duckworth-Lewis system coming into the picture. But, if no play is possible on the Reserve Day as well, a scenario that has never taken place in the IPL before, the points table rankings would come into play. In such a case, the Kolkata Knight Riders would go on to lift the IPL trophy, having finished the league stage as the No. 1 side while the Sunrisers Hyderabad had finished second.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan

Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy

"We would have bowled, we'll get a fair idea about how the pitch will play. It's a red soil and we played our last game on a similar surface. We need to stay with the present, stick to the basics and execute all our plans. Every individual is taking responsibility, this is a big game, we've plenty of people who're playing in a final for the first time, nervous, but this is also a good chance. We're going with the same team," said KKR captain Shreyas Iyer.

"We will bat first. Looks like a good wicket, played on a different wicket the other night. There was no dew on the other night's game, but when it does, it's very damaging. We've had now dew the other night, I don't feel there'll be any today, I want to crack with the bat first. We have a style that doesn't work always, but when it does work, it's very damagiing. We have done well defending scores. Pretty much the same, Shahbaz comes in for Samad," said SRH captain Pat Cummins at toss.

SunRisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins has won the toss and opted to bat against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2024 final in Chennai tonight.

One interesting aspect of the IPL final is that the match features no member from India's main T20 World Cup squad. The only Indian player associated with the final will be Rinku Singh, who is in the reserves

Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen did get runs on a tricky surface but the likes of Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Reddy would need to play the match of their lives for SRH to emerge triumphant. On a track where taking the pace off deliveries will be the key, young KKR pacers Harshit and Vaibhav Arora will have to think out of the box against Head, who has so far amassed 567 runs.

SRH's spin department might be short on confidence but not in terms of heart as Abhishek Sharma and Shahbaz Ahmed showed during their cumulative haul of 5 for 37 in 8 overs, which changed the course of the second qualifier. Any target between 180 to 200 could be a very competitive one if the pressure of playing the final is also factored in.

SRH's 36-run win over Royals on a difficult track will certainly boost their confidence but they also must realise that the Chepauk wicket will be tailor made for Varun (20 wickets) and Narine (16 wickets), who have been in stellar form through the season.

From one skipper to another
A friendly note and an indication of what's coming up later tonight#TATAIPL | #KKRvSRH | #Final | #TheFinalcall | @KKRiders | @SunRisers | @ShreyasIyer15 | @patcummins30 pic.twitter.com/E1NmVTdj1d

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 26, 2024

SRH's uncapped domestic stars like Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Reddy have done really well along with out-of-favour India internationals such as Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan and Jaydev Unadkat.

If one looks at man-to-man comparison, KKR tick more boxes in terms of overall match-winners with Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, the two Iyers -- Shreyas and Venkatesh -- the two Ranas -- Nitish and Harshit -- and spinner Varun Chakravarthy in their ranks.

Shreyas Iyer has become the first captain in IPL history to lead two different teams into the final. He first led Delhi Capitals into the final of IPL 2020 and now he has led Kolkata Knight Riders to the summit clash.

Obviously a bigger perk in Indian head coach's assignment awaits Gautam Gambhir and a trophy would not only burnish his credentials but also raise the demand to have him in that Indian dressing. Among the surfaced names for the post, Gambhir is the front runner.

After winning in 2012, Gautam Gambhir went on to win another title with KKR in 2014, which made him a sentimental favourite and now he is on the cusp of becoming the man, who as captain and mentor has won the IPL trophy for the same team.

The last time KKR played an IPL final in Chennai, it was against Chennai Super Kings in 2012 in one of the most epic contests, which established Gambhir Gambhir's credentials as an astute leader of men. He not only had the right game plan but also had his heart in the right place during those heady years.

The two teams met in the first qualifier in which KKR outwitted SRH with clever bowling plans on a massive Motera ground and in Chennai, Iyer's men will again start as favourites. KKR went on to win the Qualifier game of IPL 2024 against SRH by 8 wickets.

"A very practical guy, very humble, very empathetic to his fellow teammates and coaching staff. He is into the statistics and gets the information that he needs against a particular opposition in certain conditions," SRH assistant coach Simon Helmot described skipper Pat Cummins in a nutshell after the team's win against Rajasthan Royals in the second Qualifier. "He doesn't waste time in (team) meetings. Our team meeting today was 35 seconds. But, a lot of information has already been spoken about."

Weather forecast given according to AccuWeather.

A decade ago, no one would have placed a bet on Cummins being a captain and winning the ODI World Cup, World Test Championship and Ashes in a space of six months, and now, leading SRH to their maiden IPL title would be the icing on the cake.

KKR's Shreyas Iyer, who is playing his second IPL final as captain, has turned into bit of a side-show as a global cricketing royalty in Pat Cummins faces an IPL czar in Gautam Gambhir. Notably, Iyer first played an IPL final as captain when he led Delhi Capitals in 2020.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Aiden Markram, Abdul Samad, Nitish Reddy, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik, Anmolpreet Singh, Glenn Phillips (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Upendra Yadav (wk), Jhathavedh Subramanyan, Sanvir Singh, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Marco Jansen, Akash Maharaj Singh, Mayank Agarwal.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Shreyas Iyer (c), KS Bharat, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, Sakib Hussain and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

Hardly would anyone have imaged that two costliest players in IPL history will be up against each other in the final of the ongoing season. Ahead of IPL 2024, SRH bought Pat Cummins for a record sum of Rs 20.50 crore only see it get broken minutes later as KKR paid a mammoth sum of Rs 24.75 crore for Mitchell Starc.

Tactician par excellence Gautam Gambhir couldn't have envisaged a battle of brains with a more different kind of adversary than the smiling yet ruthless Pat Cummins as Kolkata Knight Riders face a spirited SunRisers Hyderabad in a mega IPL 2024 final at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday. Marquee sporting clashes always pit one leader against another but this IPL final will be about Gautam Gambhir's brain, which is always ticking against a captain who has transcended boundaries to turn into a leader of men.