IPL 2024: Cummins praises Sunrisers' 'heart and soul' as they storm into final against Kolkata Knight Riders

Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Rajasthan Royals by 36 runs on Friday to set up an IPL final against Kolkata Knight Riders, as spinner Shahbaz Ahmed starred with three wickets.

Heinrich Klaasen smashed 50 off 34 balls to help Sunrisers post 175-9 and their bowlers combined to restrict Rajasthan to 139-7 as they reached their third IPL final, to be played in Chennai on Sunday.

Ahmed came in as an impact substitute in Hyderabad's batting innings to score 18 runs and then returned figures of 3-23 with his left-arm spin to flatten the opposition chase.

Kolkata, who thrashed Hyderabad in the first play-off game to reach their fourth final, will meet Pat Cummins' side again in the decider.

Commenting on reaching the final SRH skipper Pat Cummins said: "The boys have been fantastic all season. There's a great vibe in the squad as you can see and the final was the goal at the start of the season and we made it.

"We knew our strength was our batting and we wouldn't underestimate the experience we have in this squad, it's a dream having Bhuvi, Nattu and Unadkat, makes my job easy.

"I will never pretend to work out the pitch and conditions ever, different every week. It is for the whole franchise, probably 60 or 70 of them who put their heart and soul into this and hopefully one more left."

Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson the teams was found short of options in the middle overs against Hyderabad's spin

"The wicket started behaving differently in the second innings, the ball started turning a bit, they used that advantage really well," he said.

"They bowled their spin in the middle overs against our right-handed batsmen, that's where they were one-up against us.

"We have had some brilliant games not only this season but from the last three years, it has been a great project for our franchise," he added

The IPL was in the grip of a heatwave in the last two play-off matches in Ahmedabad where temperatures had soared to over 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit), but Chennai remained much cooler at 32 degrees.

Rajasthan faltered in their chase despite Yashasvi Jaiswal's quickfire 42 before the opener fell to Ahmed and skipper Sanju Samson soon departed for 10.

Rajasthan Royals 139/7 (Dhruv Jurel 56*, Yashasvi Jaiswal 42; Shahbaz Ahmed 3-23).