NEW DELHI: Screaming, shouting, tears of joy, greetings, admirations for teammates, raw emotions were on display in full force in the Kolkata Knight Riders camp as the side lifted their third IPL title, beating a deflated Sunrisers Hyderabad in the summit clash at Chepauk on Sunday.
As a fifty-up Venkatesh Iyer hit the winning runs in chase of a lowly 114, players were seen hurling towards the centre of the pitch in joy.
Even in the dugout, the support staff, led by icon and mentor
Gautam Gambhir
, were immersed in celebrations with the franchise laying hands on the title after 10 years.
After titles won in 2012 and 2014 under the captaincy of Gambhir, the 43-year-old, once again led the side to victory in the final, this time as a mentor.
Win KKR's win,
Shreyas Iyer
also became the fifth Indian captain to clinch an IPL title after MS Dhoni (CSK), Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians), Gambhir (KKR) and Hardik Pandya (Gujarat Titans).
In the finale against Sunrisers, Aussie gun Mitchell Starc bowled a sensational opening spell as KKR bowled out the opposition for IPL's lowest total of 113 in a final.
Starc returned figures of 2 for 14 to live up to his top billing in the world's most lucrative T20 tournament.
Starc went to Kolkata for a record Rs 24.75 crore in the December auction and ended the IPL with two stellar performances, including a match-winning 3 for 34 in the first play-off to hammer the same opponent.
Kolkata's batsmen had it easy and despite Sunil Narine's early departure, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who made 39, and Venkatesh Iyer, on 52 not out, helped the team home with 9.3 overs to spare after a partnership of 91.
Iyer, a left-handed batsman, reached his 50 in 24 balls and hit the winning runs to trigger celebrations for Kolkata, who remained the most dominant team after they ended top of the table with 20 points in the league phase.
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