IPL Final Kolkata v Hyderabad: Latest Odds & Analysis

Kolkata v Hyderabad predictions: 

• Kolkata to win - 1.91 @ 22Bet Sports
• Pat Cummins under 31.5 PP points - 1.83 @ 22Bet Sports
• Rahul Tripathi over 21.5 runs - 1.83 @ 22Bet Sports

When: Sunday 26 May, 7:30pm IST

Where: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

Watch: Star Sports and JioCinema

Best Odds: Kolkata 1.91, Hyderabad 2.00

After 73 exciting and entertaining games, the 2024 Indian Premier League season comes down to this!

In a great testament to just how even this competition can be thanks to its salary cap and enormous investment, the 17th IPL final will produce its 13th unique matchup. 

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) meet in the playoffs for the fifth time, just days after KKR fast-tracked their way to the final with an eight-wicket demolition in Ahmedabad. 

For that reason, cricket betting sites have graded KKR as favourites, albeit very narrowly, which may come as a surprise to some considering the gulf between these sides in Qualifier 1.

For the final time this IPL season, we have scanned our favourite cricket betting apps and deployed our statistical and analytical expertise to find you three best bets for the 2024 IPL final.

The Numbers That Matter

• All-time record in Chennai: Kolkata 4-10, Hyderabad 2-9
• The average first innings score in Chennai since 2023 is 173
• Hyderabad scored the most powerplay runs in 12 matches this season
• T Natarajan and Mitchell Starc returned the best match figures in three games each

Kolkata’s decade-long drought over

Either team are certainly capable of lifting the trophy at their best, but when considering what happened when they met less than one week ago, we’re a bit surprised to see Indian betting apps offering very similar odds for the two teams.

Kolkata continued to demonstrate their adaptability away from Eden Gardens when thrashing Sunrisers in Qualifier 1, taking their record away from home this season to 5-1 including neutral venues.

They’re on a three-game winning streak against Hyderabad across all venues, although with two of the margins just five runs and four runs, it could very well have been different had one or two moments gone the other way. 

The men in purple have many proven performers when it comes to finals: West Indian pair Andre Russell and Sunil Narine have several T20 trophies each, whilst both Venkatesh Iyer (2021) and Shreyas Iyer (2020) have stood up to post half-centuries in IPL finals and were on a rampage in the Qualifier.

Like Chennai in 2023, Gujarat in 2022, Mumbai in 2021 and 2020 and Chennai in 2018, we’re expecting the finale to go the same way as Qualifier 1 did - with one team defeating another twice in one week.

Prediction: Kolkata to win - 1.91 @ 22Bet Sports

Cummins’ limited Chepauk impact

There’s no doubt he’s one of the most intelligent captains and best man managers in world cricket at the moment, but in terms of explosive on-field impactful performances, Pat Cummins hasn’t been a world-changing signing for Sunrisers.

He had a few excellent innings with the bat in the second half of the season, clearing 30+ runs in three of his last four innings, but they were his only noteworthy batting contributions of the 2024 IPL.

Cummins carries a decent season economy rate of 9.42rpo into the final, and has at times assisted his teammates in taking wickets by building pressure with cheap overs, but only three of his 14 appearances this campaign saw him grab 2+ wickets.

Against Kolkata, he recorded figures of 1-32 and 1-38, whilst in all IPL cricket in Chennai he has collected just four wickets from 20 overs at an average in the 40s. 

This is why we’re going to back him to score fewer than 31.5 ‘player performance’ points (20 per wicket, 1 per run, 10 per catch) against the Knight Riders in this final.

That affords him to take one wicket, one catch and one run for a total of 31 points!

Prediction: Pat Cummins under 31.5 PP points - 1.83 @ 22Bet Sports

Tripathi the late season injection of impetus

It took only one Rahul Tripathi appearance in May for Sunrisers fans to wonder why they persisted with the failing Mayank Agarwal in the top order for so long. 

He snapped up his third chance at taking a regular place in the starting XII with a quickfire 33 at home to Punjab that suddenly made the Hyderabad top order look even more potent. 

Tripathi then added a 55 against Kolkata and 37 in the win over Rajasthan - at strike rates in the 150s and 240s - to give them an extra weapon heading into this final.

He should be high in confidence and should be relishing this opportunity to face some bowlers against whom he has some pretty favourable matchup numbers. 

His overall figures of 211/5 against Kolkata’s last set of bowlers includes 44/4 against Andre Russell and 167/1 against the other five, including 123 runs from 84 balls bowled by KKR spinners Narine and Chakravarthy.

That suggests he could be able to boss the middle overs and give his side a great shot at revenge. 

Whilst we don’t believe Hyderabad will get over the line, the stats suggest Tripathi will give his teammates every chance to.

Prediction: Rahul Tripathi over 21.5 runs - 1.83 @ 22Bet Sports