It took some time for Mitchell Starc but the Australian star finally showed why Kolkata Knight Riders made him the most expensive player in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The left-arm pacer defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad to put KKR on top in the ongoing first qualifier of IPL 2024 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

The Australian star has taken as many as three wickets in the powerplay to leave the Hyderabad-based team reeling at 39 for 4 after five overs. In the first over, he castled Travis Head in form to duck and give KKR an impressive start. In the second over, Vaibhav Arora also joined the party by sending back the dangerous Abhishek Sharma for just 3 runs.

Mitchell Starc then put KKR in the driver’s seat by dismissing Nitish Reddy and Shahbaz Ahmed on consecutive deliveries in the fifth over. He first brought Reddy to one behind the stumps where Rahmanullah Gurbaz took a regulation catch.

In the next delivery, Mitchell Starc rattled the stumps of Shahbaz Ahmed with a beauty. The Australian pacer bowled a quick long delivery and Shahbaz decided not to use his feet. As a result, he was unable to make good contact with the ball and ended up inside, pushing the ball towards the stumps.

Watch Mitchell Starc Clean Shahbaz Ahmed Bowls:

Not a good day to be Stump 🥲#IPLonJioCinema #TATAIPL #KKRvSRH #TATAIPLPlayoffs #MitchellStarc pic.twitter.com/9XoxrrdzMs

– JioCinema (@JioCinema) May 21, 2024

Talking about the game, SRH were 94 for 4 at the end of the 10th over at the time of writing this report. After SRH lost four wickets in the powerplay, Heinrich Klaasen and Rahul Tripathi steadied the ship for the Hyderabad-based team.

Klaasen was batting on 31 while Tripathi was unbeaten on 46 at the time of writing this report. With both batsmen well prepared, SRH will hope to bat till the end and guide them to a big total.