Chennai experienced a cloudy but rain-free morning in the lead-up to Sunday’s IPL 2024 final between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad. A sharp spell of rain, lasting over an hour, disrupted KKR’s training session on Saturday evening, leading to fears of the final being affected. As of 1pm on Sunday afternoon, though, the rain threat seemed to have diminished, with only a 4% chance of precipitation according to Accuweather.
In case the weather prevents the final being completed on Sunday, there is a provision for a reserve day. The reserve day will only kick in if the match officials are not able to complete the game on Sunday itself – the team batting second will need to face at least five overs for a decisive result to be achieved.
The 2023 final in Ahmedabad went into the reserve day, where further delays pushed the finish of the match – Chennai Super Kings chased down a revised target of 171 in 15 overs in a last-ball finish against Gujarat Titans – to 1:35am on what was effectively day three.
The pitch and weather have been topics of keen interest in the lead-up to the IPL 2024 final. On Friday, SRH defeated Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2, on a black-soil pitch that began to take appreciable turn during the second innings. Both teams had anticipated dew, which may have given the chasing team an advantage, but it did not play a major role on the night.
The pitch for the final is a red-soil strip that was earlier used for CSK’s match against Punjab Kings on May 1. Spinners Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar were PBKS’s match-winners on the day, picking up a combined 4 for 33 in their eight overs to help restrict CSK to 162. PBKS chased down their target with 13 balls to spare.