Is history on SRH's side in IPL 2024 final against KKR? Hyderabad franchises' Australian connection explained

On Friday, Rajasthan Royals (RR) took on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2024 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

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Choosing to bowl first, RR struck early by removing Abhishek Sharma in the very first over. They took wickets at regular intervals but the efforts of Heinrich Klaasen (50) and Rahul Tripathi (37) meant SRH posted 175/9.

The RR chase did not get off to the best start, and with no dew setting in SRH's left-arm spin pair of Shahbaz Ahmed and Abhishek Sharma squeezed the flow of runs, eventually limiting them to 138, for a 37-run win.

Is history on SRH's side in IPL 2024 final against KKR?

The result now means SRH will take on Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2024 final in Chennai. When the sides met in Qualifier 1 KKR thoroughly outclassed SRH in Ahmedabad, but is history on the Hyderabad team's side in the summit clash?

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The appointment of Pat Cummins as SRH captain has coincided with a miraculous turnaround for SRH, from 10th place last season to 2nd place this time around. He is the fourth Australian to captain the IPL's Hyderabad franchise (Deccan Chargers/Sunrisers Hyderabad), and the others have had some solid success.

Under Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, Deccan Chargers made a spectacular comeback from bottom of the table in 2008, to winning the IPL trophy in 2009. Sunrisers Hyderabad then won the 2016 IPL title under the leadership of David Warner, who led from the front that season with a staggering 848 runs.

Can Cummins carry on the Australian tradition at the Hyderabad franchise?