With 38 balls left, KKR finished their 160-run chase led by skipper Shreyas Iyer, who hit 58 off 24 balls. Venkatesh Iyer, who hit 51 not out off 28 balls, was a valuable assistant to the KKR captain, according to Firstpost. Before T Natarajan defeated Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23 off 14) and Pat Cummins removed Sunil Narine (21 off 16), KKR's opening partnership was worth 44 runs. This reduced Kolkata to 67/2 and offered SRH some hope.

But the Iyer pair immediately put an end to any optimism as they combined to hit an undefeated 97 off only 44 balls. Earlier in the season's opening playoff game, SRH won the toss and asked KKR, the league leaders, to bowl first in an attempt to put up a massive total. However, the Sunrisers' choice backfired as KKR bowler Mitchell Starc caused chaos during the powerplay with his scorching delivery.