The two highest-priced players in the IPL 2024, Australia teammates Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc -- will go head-to-head Tuesday for a place in the final as the cash-rich Twenty20 league enters the playoffs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Cummins cost $2.5 million at auction, a record which stood briefly until Kolkata Knight Riders then paid $2.98 million for fast bowler Starc.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Former champions Hyderabad finished second after a four-wicket win over Punjab Kings on Sunday with Kolkata topping the table -- setting up the clash at the world's biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad where the winners will reach Sunday's final.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The losers will get a second chance on Friday against either the third-placed Rajasthan Royals or Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who finished fourth. They play in an eliminator on Wednesday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The final will be followed just six days later by the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the United States. Cummins last year led Australia to the 50-over World Cup when they beat India in the final, also at Ahmedabad.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"We've had a lot of fun and played some really great cricket," Cummins said of his side that twice broke the IPL scoring record this season, with innings of 277 and 287.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"It's satisfying and exciting" to be in the play-offs, he said. "A few of these guys haven't played in (IPL) finals before -- I haven't played in finals before."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
- Into the groove -<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Kolkata have been the team to beat with 20 points from 14 matches and were the first of the 10 IPL teams to clinch a playoff place.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
They hit 272-7 against Delhi Capitals this season, the third highest innings in IPL history behind Hyderabad's two huge totals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Starc had a quiet start, but began to justify his price tag with match-winning figures of 3-38 against Lucknow Super Giants last month.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He then took 4-33 against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium earlier this month, getting into the groove ahead of the World Cup.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He has taken 12 wickets in 12 matches but has been expensive, with an economy rate of more than 11 per over on the batting-friendly pitches that have dominated the 2024 season.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Cummins has 15 wickets in 13 games but it is his captaincy that has stood out with his rotation of bowlers key in Hyderabad winning eight out of 14 matches.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
His lower-order batting -- Cummins scored an IPL fifty in 14 balls in 2022 for Kolkata -- has also come in handy with a highest of 35 not out.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Cummins has fellow Australian Travis Head for company in Hyderabad.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The attacking opener has scored 533 runs, with a century and four fifties, to stand third in the batting chart led by Bengaluru's Virat Kohli on 708.<\/p>\r\n\r\n